Referendum Party
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Referendum Party
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| Founded | 1994 |
| Dissolved | 1997 |
| Ideology | Euroscepticism |
The Referendum Party was a Eurosceptic, single-issue political party that was active in the United Kingdom from 1994 until 1997. The party's sole policy was for a referendum to be held on the UK's relationship with the European Union (EU), specifically as to whether the British population wanted to be part of a federal European state or whether they wanted the EU to revert to being a free-trade bloc without wider political functions.
The party was founded by the multi-millionaire James Goldsmith, who used his financial resources and contacts to promote it. In the build-up to the 1997 general election, the Referendum Party spent more on press advertising than either the Conservative Party or the Labour Party. In the election, it gained 3% of the national vote; although failing to attain any Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, it was recognised as the most successful minor party in recent years. After Goldsmith's death in 1997, the party disbanded. During the period of its existence, the Referendum Party was considerably more successful than another Eurosceptic group, the UK Independence Party (UKIP), although following Referendum's collapse, many of its candidates joined UKIP.
"Let me make just one promise, just one vow. We the rabble army, we in the Referendum Party, we will strive with all our strength to obtain for the people of these islands the right to decide whether or not Britain should remain a nation."
The formation of the Referendum Party was announced by James Goldsmith on 27 November 1994. Goldsmith had once been a strong supporter of the EU but had grown disenchanted with it during the early 1990s, becoming particularly concerned that it was forming into a superstate governed by the centralised institutions in Brussels. He opposed the EU's Maastrict Treaty, believing that it resulted in increased German hegemony in Europe. Being an economic protectionist, he was also critical when the EU signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, believing that global free trade would damage both the EU's economy and his own business interests.
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