Referendums in the United Kingdom
Referendums (or referenda) are only occasionally held by the government of the United Kingdom. Eight referendums have been held so far, the first in 1973, and there are at least two planned for the future.
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, so for example even if the result of a pre-legislative referendum was a majority of ‘No’ for a proposed law, the government could pass it anyway.
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.
List of referendums
- Northern Ireland referendum, 1973
- United Kingdom referendum, 1975
- Scotland referendum, 1979
- Wales referendum, 1979
- Scotland referendum, 1997
- Wales referendum, 1997
- London referendum, 1998
- Northern Ireland referendum, 1998
- British referendum on EU constitution (planned, 2004 or 2005)
- Euro referendum (planned, no date)
Various local referendums on directly-elected mayors.
There was also a referendum promised on whether to change the electoral system used in the House of Commons (general elections). The 1997 Labour manifesto stated 'We are committed to a referendum on the voting system for the House of Commons.' The 2001 manifesto did not make such a promise, and it is very unlikely the referendum will be held in the foreseable future.