14 Facts About Referendum Party

Referendum Party was a Eurosceptic, single-issue political party that was active in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 1997.

Referendum Party was founded by the Anglo-French multi-millionaire businessman and politician James Goldsmith in November 1994.

Referendum Party used his financial resources and contacts to promote the new venture, in which he was assisted by other former Conservatives.

Referendum Party opposed the Maastricht Treaty, believing that it resulted in increased German dominance in Europe.

Referendum Party pledged to spend at least £10 million on campaigning for the next general election, to ensure that his party was funded to the same extent as the country's larger political parties.

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Rather than having members who paid a joining fee, the Referendum Party had "supporters" who could voluntarily donate money if they wished.

The party issued a newspaper, News from the Referendum Party, to attract wider attention to its aims and broaden its support.

Referendum Party sought to attract the support of prominent figures from business, the arts, and academia, inviting them to its major events.

At the time the new party was largely seen as a threat to the governing Conservative Referendum Party, which was experiencing high levels of mid-term unpopularity.

Referendum Party did not contest any of the by-elections in 1996 and 1997.

The Referendum Party had proved more electorally successful than its Eurosceptic rival, UKIP, which averaged 1.

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.

Referendum Party died in Benahavis, Spain, on 18 July 1997, and the party disbanded shortly afterwards.

James Glancy, another of the Brexit Party's MEPs, has compared the Brexit Party to the Referendum Party, being a "united and diverse group of people from different political backgrounds".