Referendums in the United Kingdom

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Referendums (or referenda) are only occasionally held by the government of the United Kingdom. Nine referendums have been held so far, the first in 1973; only one of these covered the whole UK. There is at least one planned for the future.

Status of referendums

Referendums have traditionally been rare in the UK. Major referendums have always been on constitutionally related issues. Before Tony Blair's Labour government came to power in 1997, only four referendums had been held.

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; 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 the concept of parliamentary sovereignty 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 controversial and potentially damaging to their popularity.

Planned referendums

Since 1997, the Labour government has held five referendums on devolution, four of which received a yes majority. One concerning the treaty establishing a constitution for Europe looks likely to happen. Another on the Euro depends on the government being willing to recomend it.

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] (http://www.labour-party.org.uk/manifestos/1997/1997-labour-manifesto.shtml) The 2001 manifesto did not make such a promise, and it is unlikely such a referendum will be held in the foreseable future.

Organisation

Until 2000, 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, Two questions: On whether there should be a Scottish Parliament (yes); On whether a Scottish Parliament should have tax varying powers (yes)
• Wales referendum, 1997, on whether there should be a Welsh Assembly (yes)
• London referendum, 1998, on whether there should be a Mayor of London and 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 (no), North West England (vote postponed) and Yorkshire and the Humber (vote postponed)
• UK referendum on EU constitution (planned after next general election)
• Euro referendum (potential, no date)

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 (http://www.ceredigion.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1044)

See also

• Elections in the United Kingdom

External links

• The Electoral Commission - Referendums (http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/referendums/index.cfm)
• The Electoral Commission - Mayoral Referendums (http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/referendums/mayoralreferendums.cfm)