That is partially true. I have seen quite a few online posts to that effect. One of them even admitted to exactly what you said, that he did not really mean it, he just wanted to give the government a bloody nose. So I take back my previous statement, I have met one.

But the vast majority of the protest voters remain confused to this day. They did not and still do not understand what they really voted for. My favourite - and there are surprisingly lot of them - are those who voted Leave "to keep all the Muslims out".

Another example. There was a Goodyear factory in Wolverhampton scheduled for closure by the end of 2016. Nothing to do with Brexit, the decision was made long before that. Wolverhampton was a strong Leave area with a 63% majority. Shortly after the vote, the BBC sent a team there to interview the factory workers. They made an hour long radio pprogramme about it that I listened to on my commute. The general feeling among the workers was Goodyear had a choice to close one factory in Europe and they chose the UK one because it was easier (due to UK law) than closing one in France, Germany or Poland. The workers' answer to that? Push their government to change the law, for their own protection? No. To vote Leave. To this day I do not understand how exactly they think it is going to help them but I doubt they actually thought it that far.

So, protest vote? Yes, definitely. Change of heart? Maybe some, but definitely not the majority. Not even remotely.