Editing Referendum Party (section)

==1997 general election==
{{main|Referendum Party election results}}
[[File:UK General Election, 1997.svg|thumb|right|The Referendum Party contested the 1997 general election. This image depicts the results by constituency: blue for a Conservative victory, red for Labour, orange for the Liberal Democrats, green for Plaid Cymru, and yellow for the [[Scottish National Party]]. The Referendum Party failed to secure any seats. In Northern Ireland, where it did not stand, domestic parties took all of the seats. |alt=A map of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in which each parliamentary constituency is shaded a different colour.]]

By the time of the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]], polls suggested that Eurosceptic sentiment was running high in the UK, and the question of the country's ongoing membership of the EU was a topic of regular discussion in the media.{{sfn|Ford|Goodwin|2014|p=28}} Much of this press coverage took a negative stance toward the EU, with mainstream newspapers like the ''[[Daily Mail]]'', ''The Daily Telegraph'' and ''The Times'' promoting Eurosceptic sentiment.{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=479}} Such debates were influenced by the UK's recent signing of the Maastricht Treaty and the looming possibility that the country would adopt the [[euro]] currency.{{sfn|Ford|Goodwin|2014|p=28}}

===Campaign===
The Referendum Party did not contest any of the [[by-election]]s in 1996 and 1997.{{sfnm|1a1=Carter|1a2=Evans|1a3=Alderman|1a4=Gorham|1y=1998|1pp=481–482|2a1=Heath|2a2=Jowell|2a3=Taylor|2a4=Thomson|2y=1998|2p=95}} For the 1997 general election, it hurried its selection of candidates,{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=474}} who had only one interview—and no background checks or screening—before acceptance.{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=474}} The funding for each candidate's official campaign was supplied entirely by the party centre.{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=474}} Candidates were brought to a training day at a [[Manchester]] hotel in February 1997, where they were presented with several hours of speeches and given a handbook. Many felt that the event had been a public relations exercise rather than a concerted effort to train candidates.{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=474}}

Goldsmith's party was the biggest spender on press advertising in the 1997 campaign;{{sfn|Butler|Kavanagh|1997|p=242}} it spent three times as much as the Conservatives and five times as much as Labour on press adverts.{{sfn|Ford|Goodwin|2014|p=26}} Its media profile greatly eclipsed that of UKIP.{{sfn|Ford|Goodwin|2014|p=28}} Goldsmith also used his financial resources to deliver a [[Videotape#Professional cassette formats|videocassette]] to five million UK households in March 1997.{{sfnm|1a1=Butler|1a2=Kavanagh|1y=1997|1p=219|2a1=Carter|2a2=Evans|2a3=Alderman|2a4=Gorham|2y=1998|2p=477|3a1=Ford|3a2=Goodwin|3y=2014|3p=27}} This was a novel strategy in British politics, and was conceived as a way of reaching the electorate while bypassing the mass media.{{sfn|Hass|1997|p=490}} The packaging of the videocassette did not specify that it was produced by the Referendum Party but rather carried several slogans: "The most important video you'll ever watch", "The story the politicians don't want you to hear", and "If you care about Britain, please pass this video on."{{sfn|Hass|1997|p=490}} The 12-minute film, presented by the former ''[[That's Life!]]'' presenter [[Gavin Campbell (presenter)|Gavin Campbell]], warned of a coming "federal European super-state".{{sfn|Hass|1997|pp=490, 492}} In his analysis of the video, scholar David Hass argued that the film was deliberately designed to elicit fear in the viewer, something achieved through "eerie sound effects", the image of a blue stain spreading across a map of Europe, and slow-motion shots of German Chancellor [[Helmut Kohl]] striding towards the screen.{{sfn|Hass|1997|p=492}} In Hass' view, the film "manifestly reduced that complex issue of Europe to the lowest common denominator, and aimed to shock."{{sfn|Hass|1997|p=495}}

The [[BBC]] also permitted the party one five-minute [[party political broadcast]] because it was fielding over 50 candidates. The party insisted that it should have three such broadcasts, but the BBC claimed that this was disproportionate for a smaller, new party with no elected representation. The party took the issue to the [[High Court of Justice]], which sided with the BBC.{{sfnm|1a1=Butler|1a2=Kavanagh|1y=1997|1p=149|2a1=Hass|2y=1997|2p=492|3a1=Carter|3a2=Evans|3a3=Alderman|3a4=Gorham|3y=1998|3pp=477–478}} The broadcast featured Goldsmith talking directly to the camera, arguing for a referendum.{{sfn|Butler|Kavanagh|1997|pp=149–150}} Goldsmith implied that the BBC had a pro-EU agenda by referring to it as the "Brussels News Corporation",  also claiming that there was a "conspiracy of silence" negatively impacting the coverage received by his party.{{sfn|Hass|1997|p=489}}

[[File:Goldsmith in Referendum Party Campaign Video.png|thumb|left|Goldsmith appeared in the Referendum Party's election broadcast, screened on the BBC.|alt=A balding, white middle aged male wearing a grey suit sitting on an armchair facing the viewer]]

In 1996, both the Conservative and Labour Parties committed to the idea that they would require a referendum on any proposed [[Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union|economic and monetary union]] with the EU; the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] had already committed to this idea.{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=479}} It is difficult to quantify what role the Referendum Party had on the adoption of this position.{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=479}} Goldsmith condemned the Conservatives' pledge as an "empty gesture".{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=480}} Concerned that they would lose votes to the Referendum Party, many in the Conservative Party were pressing Major to enter talks with Goldsmith, although the Prime Minister refused to engage in any formal dialogue.{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=481}} The electoral threat posed by Goldsmith's party was taken seriously among the Conservatives,{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=481}} with senior party figures like Major, [[Ken Clarke]], [[Douglas Hurd]], [[Brian Mawhinney]] and [[Michael Heseltine]] launching vitriolic and often personal criticisms of Goldsmith and his group.{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=481}} Hurd declared that "the government's policy must not be put at the mercy of millionaires who play with British politics as a hobby or as a boost to newspaper sales".{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=481}}

In the general election, candidates for the Referendum Party stood in 547 constituencies, the most that any minor party had ever fielded in a UK election.{{sfnm|1a1=Butler|1a2=Kavanagh|1y=1997|1p=102|2a1=Carter|2a2=Evans|2a3=Alderman|2a4=Gorham|2y=1998|2p=482|3a1=Barberis|3a2=McHugh|3a3=Tyldesley|3y=2000|3p=138}} None of these candidates were in Northern Ireland. This was because Goldsmith had made an agreement with Northern Ireland's [[Ulster Unionist Party]] that he would not field any candidates against them if their one MEP joined his [[Europe of Nations]] grouping in the European Parliament, something that ensured that the grouping remained large enough to retain its Parliamentary funding.{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=475}} It also avoided putting up candidates in constituencies where the leading candidate (65 of them Conservatives, 26 Labour and 2 Liberal Democrats) was considered sympathetic to the Referendum Party's call for a referendum.{{sfnm|1a1=Carter|1a2=Evans|1a3=Alderman|1a4=Gorham|1y=1998|1pp=482–483|2a1=Heath|2a2=Jowell|2a3=Taylor|2a4=Thomson|2y=1998|2p=95|3a1=Barberis|3a2=McHugh|3a3=Tyldesley|3y=2000|3p=138}} Goldsmith appeared to acknowledge that it was unlikely to win any of the contested seats, stating that the party's success would be "judged solely by its total number of votes".{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=475}} The party officially launched its electoral campaign on 9 April 1997 at [[Newlyn]] in [[Cornwall]], where Goldsmith sought to whip up Eurosceptic sentiment among fishermen who were angry with the restrictions imposed by EU fishing quotas.{{sfnm|1a1=Butler|1a2=Kavanagh|1y=1997|1p=103|2a1=Carter|2a2=Evans|2a3=Alderman|2a4=Gorham|2y=1998|2p=482}}

===Results===
In the election, which took place on 1 May 1997, the Referendum Party polled 811,849 votes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Morgan |first=Bryn |date=2025-03-04 |title=General election results 1 May 1997 |url=https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/rp01-38/ |language=en-GB}}</ref> This represented 2.6% of the national total,{{sfnm|1a1=Carter|1a2=Evans|1a3=Alderman|1a4=Gorham|1y=1998|1p=483|2a1=Barberis|2a2=McHugh|2a3=Tyldesley|2y=2000|2p=138|3a1=McAllister|3a2=Studlar|3y=2000|3p=359}} and the party averaged 3.1% in the seats which it contested.{{sfnm|1a1=Curtice|1a2=Steed|1y=1997|1p=305|2a1=Carter|2a2=Evans|2a3=Alderman|2a4=Gorham|2y=1998|2p=483|3a1=Ford|3a2=Goodwin|3y=2014|3pp=30–31}} 42 of the party's candidates gained over 5% of the vote and thus saw the return of their deposits,{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=483}} which were then priced at £500 each;{{sfn|Denver|Garnett|2014|p=11}} 505 deposits were lost.<ref name="ref party">{{cite web|url=http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge97/partycand.htm |title=UK Election 1997 |publisher=Politicsresources.net |access-date=16 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921035222/http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge97/partycand.htm |archive-date=21 September 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
The party gained over 7% in four constituencies{{sfn|McAllister|Studlar|2000|p=364}} including John Aspinall in [[Folkestone and Hythe (UK Parliament constituency)|Folkestone and Hythe]] who received 8% of the vote.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/results_constituencies/constituencies/256.stm|title=Results & Constituencies: Folkestone & Hythe|work=BBC News|date=2001|accessdate=29 May 2022}}</ref> Much media attention was focused on the seat of [[Putney (UK Parliament constituency)|Putney]], where Goldsmith had stood as the Referendum candidate against incumbent Conservative MP [[David Mellor]]; Goldsmith secured 3.5% of the votes, losing his [[Election deposit|deposit]], and the seat was won by the Labour candidate.{{sfn|McAllister|Studlar|2000|p=364}} Although it failed to win any seats, the party exhibited the strongest performance of a minor party in recent UK political history.{{sfnm|1a1=Carter|1a2=Evans|1a3=Alderman|1a4=Gorham|1y=1998|1p=483|2a1=Heath|2a2=Jowell|2a3=Taylor|2a4=Thomson|2y=1998|2p=95|3a1=Ford|3a2=Goodwin|3y=2014|3p=31}} Support had been strongest in the south and east of England, in particular in areas with high elderly populations and high rates of agricultural employment.{{sfnm|1a1=Curtice|1a2=Steed|1y=1997|1p=306|2a1=Carter|2a2=Evans|2a3=Alderman|2a4=Gorham|2y=1998|2p=483|3a1=Ford|3a2=Goodwin|3y=2014|3p=31}} Support for the party was considerably weaker in Inner London, Northern England, and Scotland;{{sfnm|1a1=Curtice|1a2=Steed|1y=1997|1p=306|2a1=Ford|2a2=Goodwin|2y=2014|2p=31}} it secured only 1.1% of the Scottish vote.{{sfnm|1a1=Curtice|1a2=Steed|1y=1997|1p=306|2a1=Heath|2a2=Jowell|2a3=Taylor|2a4=Thomson|2y=1998|2p=96}} This may have reflected greater pro-EU sentiment in Scotland or a perception that the Referendum Party's Euroscepticism was a form of [[English nationalism]] rather than [[British nationalism]].{{sfn|Curtice|Steed|1997|p=306}} The Referendum Party had proved more electorally successful than its Eurosceptic rival, UKIP, which averaged 1.2% of the vote in the 194 constituencies that it contested.{{sfnm|1a1=Curtice|1a2=Steed|1y=1997|1p=305|2a1=Carter|2a2=Evans|2a3=Alderman|2a4=Gorham|2y=1998|2p=483}}

{{Quote box|width=25em|quote="It would be wrong wholly to dismiss the impact of the Referendum Party—which may be seen in two ways. First, it helped promote Europe on the political agenda and added to the pressure which eventuated in the three major parties promising a referendum on the specific issue of EMU membership. Second, although the party had no effect on the outcome of the [1997 general] election, it did attract a respectable level of support and its presence contributed to the Conservative's dismal electoral performance."|source=— Carter, Evans, Alderman, and Gorham, 1998{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=479}} }}

The general election resulted in a victory for [[Tony Blair]]'s Labour Party, which adopted a pro-EU stance.{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=479}} Labour's victory was considered a [[landslide victory|landslide]], thus making the Referendum Party's role in the election fairly irrelevant.{{sfn|Carter|Evans|Alderman|Gorham|1998|p=483}} The Conservatives had gained only 30.7% of the vote, a drop from the 41.9% they had attained in 1992 and the lowest vote share that they had received since the establishment of modern British party politics in 1832.{{sfn|McAllister|Studlar|2000|p=363}} Their representation in the [[House of Commons]] fell by over half, from 343 to 165; their lowest representation in the House since [[1906 United Kingdom general election|1906]].{{sfn|McAllister|Studlar|2000|p=363}} The reasons for their electoral decline were many and the impact of the Referendum Party was not a major factor.{{sfn|McAllister|Studlar|2000|p=363}}

The Referendum Party nevertheless may have cost the Conservatives certain seats.{{sfn|Heath|Jowell|Taylor|Thomson|1998|p=95}} Many Conservatives themselves believed that this was the case.{{sfn|Butler|Kavanagh|1997|p=221}} As noted by Anthony Heath, Roger Jowell, Bridget Taylor, and Katarina Thomson from their analysis of polling data, "voters for the Referendum Party were certainly not a cross-section of the electorate. They were predominantly people who had voted Conservative (and, to a lesser extent, Liberal Democrat) in 1992. Hardly anyone who had voted Labour in 1992 supported Goldsmith's party."{{sfn|Heath|Jowell|Taylor|Thomson|1998|p=101}} Their evidence indicated that just under two-thirds of those who voted for the Referendum Party in 1997 had voted for the Conservatives in 1992, although the analysis also suggested that many of these people were dissatisfied with the Conservative government and would not have voted for them even had the Referendum Party not existed.{{sfn|Heath|Jowell|Taylor|Thomson|1998|p=107}} Heath ''et al'' noted that "voters for the Referendum Party were remarkably Eurosceptic but were unremarkable in most other respects. They show no sign of being right-wing on the economic issues of the left-right dimension and they were not consistently right-wing ideologues."{{sfn|Heath|Jowell|Taylor|Thomson|1998|p=108}} Those who voted for the party held a diversity of ideological positions, the only shared factor being their Euroscepticism.{{sfn|Ford|Goodwin|2014|p=32}}

According to analysis by the political scientist [[John Curtice]] and [[Psephology|psephologist]] [[Michael Steed]], "only a handful of the Conservatives' losses of seats can be blamed on the intervention of the Referendum Party".{{sfn|Curtice|Steed|1997|p=308}} Their estimate was that only four seats would have been Conservative without the Referendum Party standing.{{sfn|Curtice|Steed|1997|p=308}} For this reason, Butler and Kavanagh stated that the Referendum Party "had only a limited effect on the Conservatives' fortunes".{{sfn|Butler|Kavanagh|1997|p=242}} On employing aggregate constituency data, Ian McAllister and Donley T. Studlar disagreed, arguing that the Referendum Party had a greater impact on the Conservatives than previous research suggested. They argued that the Referendum Party cost the Conservatives an average of 3.4% of the vote.{{sfn|McAllister|Studlar|2000|pp=359, 365}} Their analysis further suggested that there were 16 seats where the involvement of the Referendum Party directly cost the Conservative candidate their victory, and a further three where it was a contributing factor to the Conservatives' failure.{{sfn|McAllister|Studlar|2000|p=367}}