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  Referendum
POLITICAL PARTY DETAILS
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AbbreviationRP
Websitehttp://www.referendum.org.uk/
CountryUnited Kingdom
Established1994-00-00
Disbanded1997-00-00
Contributor411 Name Removed
Last EditedRBH - November 17, 2021 11:34pm
DescriptionThe Referendum Party were a political party in the United Kingdom formed to contest the 1997 General Election. The leading figure behind their formation was James Goldsmith. The party's position was simply that there should be a referendum held on the UK's continued membership of the European Union.

The Referendum Party very briefly held a seat in the House of Commons after George Gardiner, the Conservative MP for Reigate, changed parties. In the 1997 election itself, the Referendum Party polled fairly well, receiving in excess of 800,000 votes, but did not threaten to win a seat in the House of Commons. One of the most memorable images of that election was the sight of Goldsmith taunting David Mellor after the latter had lost his Putney seat, where Goldsmith also stood as a candidate. By some estimates the Referendum Party cost the Conservatives 25-30 seats at the election by taking crucial votes in closely-fought constituencies.

Gardiner campaigned for re-election in Reigate, but was not successful, losing to the new Conservative candidate.

Goldsmith vowed that the party would continue after the 1997 election, but his death in July of that year, deprived them of their most high profile figure and the financial support he offered them. The party ceased to exist not long afterwards. A successor of sorts, the Referendum Movement, was created by the remaining inner circle of the Party. This Movement merged in January 1999 with the Euro Information Campaign - another pro-pound, anti-euro group funded by a multi-millionaire - in this case Paul Sykes. The merged group, the Democracy Movement, is not a political party but rather a political pressure group. Many members of the Referendum Party have switched their voting support to the UK Independence Party.

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MOST RECENT RACES
11/25/1999 UK Parliament - Kensington & Chelsea - By-election Stephen Scott-Fawcett Lost 0.29% (-56.10%)
11/20/1997 UK Parliament - Beckenham - By-election Leonard Mead Lost 0.74% (-40.51%)
05/03/1997 UK Parliament - Middlesbrough Robert Edwards Lost 2.89% (-68.54%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - Angus Brian Taylor Lost 2.05% (-46.22%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - Cumbernauld & Kilsyth Pamela Cook Lost 0.30% (-58.39%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - Dunfermline West James Bain Lost 1.49% (-51.59%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - Edinburgh South Ian McLean Lost 1.12% (-45.70%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - Glasgow Cathcart Strang Haldane Lost 1.03% (-56.35%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - Hamilton North & Bellshill Raymond Conn Lost 1.46% (-62.55%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - Moray Paddy Meiklejohn Lost 2.11% (-39.45%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - Roxburgh & Berwickshire John Curtis Lost 2.64% (-43.86%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - Enfield Southgate Nicholas Luard Lost 2.88% (-41.32%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - Argyll & Bute Michael Stewart Lost 2.00% (-38.20%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - Cunninghame North Ian Winton Lost 1.07% (-49.23%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - East Kilbride Julie Gray Lost 0.63% (-55.90%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - Edinburgh West Stephen Elphick Lost 0.58% (-42.62%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - Glasgow Govan Kenneth MacDonald Lost 0.62% (-43.47%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - Hamilton South Stuart Brown Lost 0.95% (-64.65%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - Motherwell & Wishaw Thomas Russell Lost 0.60% (-56.81%)
05/01/1997 UK Parliament - Strathkelvin & Bearsden David Wilson Lost 0.68% (-52.18%)