Despite positioning himself as a eurosceptic during Havant Conservative Association's process to select their prospective parliamentary candidate, and writing before the 2015 election that, "we shouldn’t be afraid to leave [the EU]", Mak announced in February 2016 that he would campaign to remain in the EU in the June 2016 EU membership referendum. This decision was criticised by local party members as a political "U-turn" and received speculation in "The Huffington Post" as being affected by "careerism."