European Union Referendum Act 2015

This article is about the 2015 Act of Parliament which enables the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, 2016. For the associated Act of the Gibraltar Parliament, see European Union (Referendum) Act 2016 (Gibraltar). For the unsuccessful 2013–14 private member's bill, see European Union (Referendum) Bill 2013-14.
European Union Referendum Act 2015

Long title An Act to make provision for the holding of a referendum in the United Kingdom and Gibraltar on whether the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union.
Citation 2015 CHAPTER 36
Introduced by Philip Hammond
Territorial extent United Kingdom & Gibraltar
Dates
Royal assent 17 December 2015
Status: Current legislation

The European Union Referendum Act 2015 is a United Kingdom (UK) Act of Parliament designed to make provision for the holding of a referendum in the United Kingdom and Gibraltar not later than 31 December 2017 on whether the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union (EU). The bill was introduced to the House of Commons by Philip Hammond, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 28 May 2015[1] and approved by the House of Lords on 14 December 2015.[2] It was given Royal Assent on 17 December. On 20 February 2016 it was announced by the Prime Minister David Cameron that the referendum would take place on Thursday 23 June 2016.

Origin

On 1 January 1973 the United Kingdom and Gibraltar joined what was then known as the European Economic Community (the Common Market), under terms negotiated by the then Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath.[3] In accordance with British constitutional convention, specifically that of parliamentary sovereignty, accession was not subject to approval by referendum. Both Conservative and the Labour Parties were divided over the issue, and the enabling legislation was passed due to sufficient Labour abstentions to counteract the number of rebel Tories.[4] In the run-up to the UK General Election February 1974, the Labour Party manifesto promised a Referendum 'on renegotiated terms', which its leader, Harold Wilson, hoped would end the division of his party.[4] However the election proved indecisive and marked the end of Heath's premiership as Prime Minister and Wilson was forced to call a second election later in the year. After the UK General Election October 1974, the Labour Party formed a minority administration and held the referendum on continued membership the following year, which was approved by 67% of voters.

For a few years the issue was largely settled but, with the approval by Parliament of the Single European Act, the Maastricht Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty, there were calls from eurosceptic Members of Parliament for a new UK referendum on continued membership. Conservative Party leader David Cameron announced in January 2013 a proposal to undertake a renegotiation of the terms of the UK's membership of the EU, and subsequently to hold a UK referendum on EU membership. However at the time of Cameron's speech the Conservative Party was in Coalition government with the Liberal Democrats who along with the Labour Party were at the time opposed to any new referendum being held and did not have a overall majority and a private members bill by Conservative MP James Wharton to legislate a in-out referendum by the end of 2017 was blocked in the House of Lords. The proposals were contained in the Conservative Party manifesto for the United Kingdom general election, 2015, in which the Conservatives won with an unexpected overall majority. Following the election the opposition Labour Party withdrew its opposition to holding an in-out EU referendum.[5] On the bill's second reading, on 9 June 2015, MPs voted by 544 to 53 in favour of the principle of holding a referendum with only the Scottish National Party opposing the Bill.[6]

The referendum

The Act legislates for a referendum to be held on the issue of the United Kingdom's continuing membership of the European Union (which also affects Gibraltar) which will be a single majority vote and by regulation orders the Secretary of State to appoint a date for the holding of the referendum under the following circumstances:

The Electoral Commission will be the public body under the terms of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 which will oversee and will be in charge of conducting the referendum across the United Kingdom and Gibraltar.

Campaign period

The Act legislates that the official referendum campaign period up until polling day will be of ten weeks duration (15 April to 23 June 2016) with an official purdah period where all government and public bodies are unable to comment or publish information specifically in regard to the referendum for a period of four weeks duration (27 May to 23 June 2016) up until polling day.

Campaign groups spending

Under this Act and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, the Electoral Commission has the authority to designate and to provide funding for two official lead campaign groups, one for "Remain" and one for "Leave". Each designated group has access to grants worth up to £600,000 as well as television spots and free leaflet drops. The Act declares that these designated group are not permitted to spend overall more than £7 million. The Act permits other campaign groups to participate but their overall spending is limited to a maximum of £700,000 if they are registered. Spending by unregistered groups is limited by the Act to a maximum of £10,000. The Electoral Commission announced the official "Remain" and "Leave" designated groups before the beginning of the official campaign period (on 13 April 2016) ahead of the deadline on 14 April 2016: Britain Stronger in Europe for "Remain" and Vote Leave for "Leave".

Political parties spending

Under the Act and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 political parties are permitted to provide funding for the referendum although their spending is limited according to their performance at the 2015 UK general election and under the rules the political parties are limited to the maximum of each amount as follows:

All other political parties who receive less than 5% of the national vote share will have their maximum spending limited to no more than £700,000.

Individual Spending

Unless individuals are officially registered with the electoral commission the maximum limit for spending in the referendum to is to be no more than £10,000.

Referendum Question

The question that is to appear on ballot papers in the referendum before the electorate under the act will be:

Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?

with the responses to the question to be (to be marked with a single (x)):

Remain a member of the European Union
Leave the European Union

and in Welsh:

A ddylai’r Deyrnas Unedig aros yn aelod o’r Undeb Ewropeaidd neu adael yr Undeb Ewropeaidd?

with the responses (to be marked with a single (x)):

Aros yn aelod o’r Undeb Ewropeaidd
Gadael yr Undeb Ewropeaidd

Voting areas

The 382 "voting areas" within the United Kingdom and Gibraltar for the referendum under the legislation

Under the provisions of the act the designation of a "voting area" on the day of the referendum to be overseen by "Local Counting Officers" (LCO) within the United Kingdom and Gibraltar is as follows:

There will be a total of 382 voting areas. 326 in England, 32 in Scotland, 22 in Wales and single areas for Northern Ireland and Gibraltar.

Regional counts

The twelve regional count areas for the referendum under the legislation

The act also provides provision for the results from the "voting areas" to fed into twelve "regional counts" to be overseen by "regional counting officers" (RCO) which will be appointed in the following areas as used under the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002:

For the purposes of the referendum the local result from Gibraltar will be fed into the South West England regional count.

Franchise

The right to vote in the referendum under the legislation will apply to UK residents who are British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens. UK residents who are citizens of other EU countries will not be allowed to vote unless they are citizens of Ireland, Malta or Cyprus. UK nationals who have lived overseas for less than 15 years will also be eligible to vote as will Members of the House of Lords and Commonwealth citizens resident in Gibraltar. Voting on the day of the referendum will be from 0700 to 2200 BST (WEST) (0700 to 2200 CEST in Gibraltar) with each polling station prohibited from having more than 2,500 registered voters.[5] Residents of the Isle of Man, and the other Crown Dependencies Jersey and Guernsey, will not be eligible to vote in the referendum, as those territories are not part of the UK.[7]

The minimum age for voters in the referendum is 18 years, a figure in line with previous elections in the UK. A House of Lords amendment proposing to lower the minimum age to 16 years[8] was rejected.[2]

Calling of referendum

On the morning of Saturday 20 February 2016 Prime Minister David Cameron held a special cabinet meeting in 10 Downing Street with his fellow Ministers (the first such meeting to be held on a Saturday since 3 April 1982 at the start of the Falklands War). After the meeting at 1210 GMT he announced outside the door of No 10 that the referendum in accordance with the act would be held on Thursday 23 June 2016. Parliament enacted secondary legislation to authorise the holding of the referendum on that date on Monday 22 February 2016[9]

Original Proposed Question

Originally the bill gave the question to appear on ballet papers:

Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union?

and in Welsh:

A ddylai’r Deyrnas Unedig aros yn aelod o’r Undeb Ewropeaidd?

permitting a simple YES/NO answer.

The original proposed question was very similar to the question voters were asked in the original 1975 EEC Referendum. However, during subsequent research by the Electoral Commission found that "members of the public feel the wording was not balanced and there was a perception of bias" and proposed a change in the wording of the question. The proposed change was accepted by the government in September 2015, shortly before the bill's third reading.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "European Union Referendum Bill 2015-16". www.parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  2. 1 2 Dathan, Matt (15 December 2015). "EU referendum outcome on a knife edge, new poll reveals". The Independent. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Timeline: Campaigns for a European Union referendum  – BBC 21 May 2015
  4. 1 2 BBC TV programme 'Europe: Them Or Us: An Island Apart'  – BBC, 12 April 16
  5. 1 2 "A guide to the UK's planned in-out EU referendum". BBC News. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  6. ↑ "EU referendum: MPs support plan for say on Europe". BBC News. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  7. ↑ "Lord of the Rings star launches Manx EU referendum petition". BBC News. 29 January 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  8. ↑ Waugh, Paul (6 November 2015). "Labour Lords Table Fresh Move To Give 16 and 17-Year-Olds The Vote In The EU Referendum". Huffington Post. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "EU referendum: Cameron sets June date for UK vote". BBC News.
  10. ↑ Watt, Nicholas; Syal, Rajeev (1 September 2015). "EU referendum: Cameron accepts advice to change wording of question". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
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