- Referendums in the United Kingdom
Referendums (or referenda) are only occasionally held by the government of the
United Kingdom . Ninereferendum s have been held so far (excluding referendums held under the Local Government Act 1972--see below), the first in 1973; only one of these covered the whole UK. There is at least two planned for the future. Although few referendums have been held at national or regional level, there have been numerous referendums at local level to determine whether there is support for a directly-elected mayor.tatus 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 werea majority of ‘No' for a proposed law, Parliament could pass it anyway.
Legally, Parliament at any point in future could reverse legislation approved by referendum 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 referendum as it would probably be controversial and potentially damaging to its popularity.Finally, under the
Local Government Act 1972 , there is a little-known provision under which non-binding local referendums on any issue can be called by small groups of voters. Six local voters may call a meeting, and if ten voters or a third of the meeting (whichever is smaller) agree, the council must carry out a referendum in 14-25 days. The referendum is merely advisory, but if there is a substantial majority and the results are well-publicised, it may be influential. [http://www2.prestel.co.uk/rodmell/local.htm]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 was cancelled, given the French and Dutch rejections of the treaty. Another, on whether the UK should adopt theeuro , depends on the government's being willing to recommend 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.' [http://www.labour-party.org.uk/manifestos/1997/1997-labour-manifesto.shtml] Despite the research carried out by the Jenkins Commission in 1998 suggesting an AV+ system for Westminster elections, the 2001 manifesto did not make such a promise, and it is unlikely such a referendum will be held in the foreseeable future.Since the
Government of Wales Act 2006 became law, there can be referendums inWales asking the people whether theNational Assembly for Wales should be given greater law making powers. TheWelsh Labour Party -Plaid Cymru Coalition Government in theWelsh Assembly have promised such a referendum before 2011.The
Scottish National Party (SNP) government in Scotland plans to hold a referendum onScottish independence in 2010 or 2011, prior to the next Scottish parliamentary elections in May 2011. Since the SNP runs a minority government, it had seemed unlikely that they would be able to get the legislation through the Scottish parliament to enable a referendum to take place, but Scottish Labour leader,Wendy Alexander , later indicated that she would be in favour of holding a referendum on independence to settle the question for at least a generation [ [http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Wendy-39Bring-it-on39.4049804.jp Wendy:'Bring it on'] Scotsman, May 5, 2008 ] (although she was forced to resign as leader soon afterwards).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, giving the Electoral Commission responsibility for running referendums.List of major referendums
*
Northern Ireland referendum, 1973 , on whetherNorthern Ireland should remain part of theUnited Kingdom or join theRepublic of Ireland (UK)
*United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum, 1975 , on whether the UK should remain part of the European Economic Community (yes)
*Scottish devolution referendum, 1979 , on whether there should be aScottish Assembly (small majority voted yes, but fell short of the 40% threshold required to enact devolution)
*Welsh devolution referendum, 1979 , on whether there should be aWelsh Assembly (no)
*Scottish devolution referendum, 1997 , Two questions: On whether there should be aScottish Parliament (yes); On whether a Scottish Parliament should have tax varying powers (yes)
*Welsh devolution referendum, 1997 , on whether there should be aWelsh Assembly (yes)
*Greater London Authority referendum, 1998, on whether there should be aMayor of London andGreater London Authority (yes)
*Northern Irish Belfast Agreement referendum, 1998 , on theGood Friday Agreement (yes)
*Northern English devolution referendums, 2004 , on elected regional assemblies forNorth East England (no),North West England (vote postponed) andYorkshire and the Humber (vote postponed)There are some potential referendums:
*
United Kingdom European Constitution referendum
*United Kingdom euro referendum Additionally, the
Government of Wales Act 2006 can invoke further referendums in Wales on increasing the powers of the National Assembly of Wales. Per the coalition agreement "One Wales" betweenWelsh Labour Party andPlaid Cymru , this will be done before the end of the current term, i.e. by 2011.Alex Salmond , the leader of theScottish National Party (SNP), stated prior to the general election in May 2007 that a referendum onScottish independence would be a condition for his party joining a ruling coalition in theScottish Parliament .The
Liberal Democrats who are opposed to Scottish independence and such a referendum refused to go into coalition with the SNP after the May 2007 elections. This led to the SNP's running a minority administration and any referendum bill placed before the Parliament will likely fail as pro-UK parties have a majority of members in the Scottish Parliament.List of minor (local) referendums
Thirty-five local referendums have taken place in local authorities to establish whether there is support for directly-elected mayors. Twelve received a "Yes" majority and twenty-three a "No" majority. The highest turnout was 64% in
Berwick-upon-Tweed and the lowest was 10% in Ealing. On average, the turnout was similar to that of local elections.The majority of those was held between June 2001 and May 2002 -- a further six have been held since.
Campaigns are now under way in four of the twelve local authorities with elected mayors (Doncaster, Hartlepool, Lewisham and Stoke-on-Trent) to hold referendums to abolish the posts. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,17129-2341604.html]
"Yes" majority shown in green, "No" majority shown in red."
"Source: Electoral Commission; [http://www.ceredigion.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1044 Ceredigion County Council] "
Welsh prohibition referendums
The
Sunday Closing (Wales) Act 1881 mandated that allpublic house s in Wales be closed on Sundays. The Act was extended to Monmouthshire in 1921. Under the terms of theLicensing Act 1961 , on the application of 500 local electors, a referendum could be held in each local government area at seven-year intervals on whether that district should be "wet" or "dry" on the Sabbath. Most districts in the border area and the southern industrial area went "wet" in 1961 or 1968, with most others following suit in 1975. In 1982, the last district,Dwyfor , in western Gwynedd, went "wet" and it was thought that the influence of the Sabbatarian temperance movement had expired and few referendums were called, but surprisingly a further referendum was called in Dwyfor in 1989 and the area went "dry" for another seven years on a 9% turnout. The whole of Wales was "wet" from 1996, and the facility for further referendums was removed by theSunday Licensing Act 2003 .Edinburgh transport referendum
The
City of Edinburgh Council held a postal-ballot referendum in February 2005 over whether voters supported the Council's proposed transport strategy. These plans included acongestion charge which would have required motorists to pay a fee to enter the city at certain times of the day. The result was announced on 22 February 2005 and the people of Edinburgh had rejected the proposals. 74% voted against, 26% voted in favour, and the turnout was 62%.East Stoke parish poll
In September 2007, villagers in East Stoke in
Dorset forced a referendum, under theLocal Government Act 1972 , on this question: "Do You Want a Referendum on the EU Constitutional Treaty? Yes or No?" Of the 339 people who were eligible to vote, 80 voted: 72 votes for Yes and 8 votes for No. The poll was initiated by a supporter of theEurosceptic United Kingdom Independence Party . The poll was criticised by the chairman of theparish council as "little more than a publicity stunt." [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/7005571.stm] [http://www.purbeck.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=10317]References
ee also
*
Elections in the United Kingdom External links
* [http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/referendums/index.cfm The Electoral Commission - Referendums]
* [http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/referendums/mayoralreferendums.cfm The Electoral Commission - Mayoral Referendums]
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