Previous UK referendums
There has only been one UK wide referendum. This was held in 1975 to help determine whether the UK should remain a member of the European Community. More recently, several referendums have been held on issued of governance in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the North East.
New legislation
The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act (PPERA) 2000 gives the Electoral Commission responsibility for:
- commenting on the wording of the referendum questions;
- registration of campaigners;
- designation lead campaign organisations;
- monitoring referendum expenditure limits and donations;
- the conduct of the poll; and
- the announcement of the result.
The Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Act 2003 provides for referendums to be held in English regions on establishing regional assemblies. Voters living in parts of the region that have both county and district councils (two tier areas) will be asked a second question. The second question will let voters choose between different options on how local authorities in their part of the region will be reorganised into a such reorganisation if an elected assembly is not established.
UK wide referendums
There are currently no UK wide referendums planned. However, the government has indicated that the following issues could be the subject of referendums in the future.
- European single currency - The Labour Party made a manifesto commitment in 2001 on holding a referendum on the issue of the European single currency.
In June 2003 the government announced that the treasury's five economic tests for entry into the European single currency had not been met, but would report back on progress towards meeting the tests in the 2004 budget.
- Voting system - the Labour Party has made a manifesto commitment stating that a referendum is the right way to agree any changes to the voting system for Westminster.
