Policy
The party's position was that there should be a referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union. It planned to contest every constituency where there was no leading candidate in favour of such a referendum. In general, most seats it did not contest had sitting Eurosceptic Conservative MPs; however, some prominent pro-European MPs from all parties were not opposed because they supported putting the issue to the vote. Similarly, most Referendum Party candidates, activists and supporters were Eurosceptic, but some were pro-European. In Northern Ireland, the Referendum Party did not stand, but instead endorsed the Ulster Unionist Party.
The referendum question which the party proposed was announced on 28 November 1996:
| “ | Do you want the United Kingdom to be part of a federal Europe or do you want the United Kingdom to return to an association of sovereign nations that are part of a common trading market? | ” |
The Referendum Party briefly held a seat in the House of Commons after George Gardiner, the Conservative MP for Reigate, changed parties in March 1997 following deselection by his local party.
Read more about this topic: Referendum Party
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—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)
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