Referendums in the United Kingdom

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Referendums (or referenda) are only occasionally held by the government of the United Kingdom. Eight referendums have been held so far, the first in 1973, and there are at least two planned for the future.

Table of contents

1 Status of referendums
2 Planned referendums
3 List of major referendums
4 List of minor (local) referendums
5 See also
6 External links

Status of referendums

Referendums have traditionally been rare in the UK. Major referendums have always been on constitutional issues and not any other policies. Before Tony Blair's New Labour government came to power in 1997 only four referendums had been held before.

There are two types of referendum that have been held in the UK, pre-legislative (held before proposed legislation is passed) and post-legislative (held after legislation) is passed. Referendums are not legally binding, so legally, the government can ignore the results, so for example even if the result of a pre-legislative referendum was a majority of ‘No' for a proposed law, Parliament could pass it anyway.

Legally, Parliament at any point in future could reverse legislation approved by referendums because of the concept of parliamentary sovereignty, which means no Parliament can prevent a future Parliament from amending/repealing legislation. However, it is unlikely many governments would attempt to reverse legislation approved by referendums as it would probably be very controversial and damaging to their popularity.

Planned referendums

Since 1997, Labour has held four referendums on devolution, all which received a yes majority and it has promised three more major referendums. One planned referendum, the referendum of the electoral system for general elections looks highly unlikely to happen. However the other two, concerning the European Union issues look almost certain to happen.

Three further referendums on devolution are planned for November 4, 2004, these will be on regional assemblies in the regions of North East England, North West England and Yorkshire and the Humber. These will have two questions: on whether there should be an elected regional assembly for the region; and, in areas with two-tier local government, what pattern of unitary authorities should be introduced should this happen.

Until New Labour's first term, there was no body to regulate referendums. In 2000, the government set out a framework for the running of future referendums when the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 or PPERA was passed, given the Electoral Commission responsibility for running referendums.

List of major referendums

Northern Ireland referendum, 1973, on whether Northern Ireland should remain part of the UK (yes)
United Kingdom referendum, 1975, on whether the UK should remain part of the European Community (yes)
Scotland referendum, 1979, on whether there should be a Scottish Parliament (no)
Wales referendum, 1979, on whether there should be a Welsh Assembly (no)
Scotland referendum, 1997, on whether there should be a Scottish Parliament (yes)
Wales referendum, 1997, on whether there should be a Welsh Assembly (yes)
London referendum, 1998, on whether there should be a Greater London Authority (yes)
Northern Ireland referendum, 1998, on the Good Friday Agreement (yes)
Northern England referendums, 2004, on elected regional assemblies for North East England, North West England and Yorkshire and the Humber (planned; November 4)
UK referendum on EU constitution (planned after next general election)
Euro referendum (planned, no date)

There was also a referendum promised on whether to change the electoral system used in the House of Commons (general elections). The Labour manifesto for the 1997 general election stated 'We are committed to a referendum on the voting system for the House of Commons.' [1] The 2001 manifesto did not make such a promise, and it is very unlikely the referendum will be held in the foreseable future.

List of minor (local) referendums

Thirty local referendums have taken place in local authorities to establish whether there is support for directly-elected mayors. Eleven received a "Yes" majority and twenty a "No" majority. The highest turnout was 42% in West Devon and the lowest was 10% in Ealing. On average, the turnout was similar to that of local elections.

The majority of these were held between June 2001 and May 2002 - a further three have been held since.

"Yes" majority shown in green, "No" majority shown in red.

Source: Electoral Commission; Ceredigion County Council

Local authority Date Yes Votes Yes Vote % No Votes No Vote % Turnout %
Berwick-upon-Tweed 7 June 2001 3,617 26 10,212 74 64
Cheltenham 28 June 2001 8,083 33 16,602 67 32
Gloucester 28 June 2001 7,731 32 16,317 68 31
Watford 12 July 2001 7,636 52 7,140 48 25
Doncaster 20 September 2001 35,453 65 19,398 35 25
Kirklees 4 October 2001 10,169 27 27,977 73 13
Sunderland 11 October 2001 9,375 43 12,209 57 10
Brighton & Hove; 18 October 2001 22,724 38 37,214 62 32
Hartlepool 18 October 2001 10,667 51 10,294 49 34
Lewisham 18 October 2001 16,822 51 15,914 49 18
Middlesbrough 18 October 2001 29,067 84 5,422 16 34
North Tyneside 18 October 2001 30,262 58 22,296 42 36
Sedgefield 18 October 2001 10,628 47 11,869 53 33
Redditch 8 November 2001 7,250 44 9,198 56 28
Durham 20 November 2001 8,327 41 11,974 59 29
Harrow 6 December 2001 17,502 43 23,554 57 26
Plymouth 24 Jan 2002 29,559 41 42,811 59 40
Harlow 24 Jan 2002 5,296 25 15,490 75 25
Newham 31 Jan 2002 27,263 68 12,687 32 26
Southwark 31 Jan 2002 6,054 31 13,217 69 11
West Devon 31 Jan 2002 3,555 23 12,190 77 42
Shepway 31 Jan 2002 11,357 44 14,438 56 36
Bedford 21 Feb 2002 11,316 67 5,537 33 16
Hackney 2 May 2002 24,697 59 10,547 41 32
Mansfield 2 May 2002 8,973 55 7,350 45 21
Newcastle-under-Lyme 2 May 2002 12,912 44 16,468 56 31.5
Oxford 2 May 2002 14,692 44 18,686 56 34
Stoke on Trent 2 May 2002 28,601 58 20,578 42 27
Corby 1 October 2002 5,351 46 6239 54 31
Ealing 12 December 2002 9,454 45 11,655 55 10
Ceredigion 20 May 2004 5,308 27 14,013 73 36