| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to provide for the holding of a referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Economic Community. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 1975 c. 33 |
| Introduced by | Edward Short,Lord President of the Council (Commons) Elwyn Jones, Baron Elwyn-Jones,Lord Chancellor (Lords) |
| Territorial extent |
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| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 8 May 1975 |
| Commencement | 8 May 1975 |
| Repealed | 2 May 1986 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1986 (c. 12) |
| Relates to | |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Part ofa series of articles on | ||||||||||
| UK membership of theEuropean Union (1973–2020) | ||||||||||
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Treaty amendments
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TheReferendum Act 1975 (c. 33) also known at the time as theReferendum Bill was anact of theParliament of the United Kingdom, which made legal provision for the holding of aconsultative referendum on whether theUnited Kingdom should remain a member of theEuropean Communities (EC)—generally known at the time in the UK, with reference to their main component, theEuropean Economic Community (EEC) as stipulated in the Act, also known at the time as the "Common Market".[1] The bill was introduced to theHouse of Commons by theLeader of the House of Commons andLord President of the CouncilEdward Short on 26 March 1975; on its second reading on 10 April 1975, MPs voted 312–248 in favour of holding the referendum—which came the day after they voted to stay in theEuropean Communities on the new terms set out in the renegotiation.
The Act gave effect to a manifesto commitment of theLabour Party at thegeneral election of October 1974, and set out the arrangements and procedure for the United Kingdom's first ever national referendum, in which voting was to take place simultaneously in all parts of the country. The Act was given Royal Assent on 8 May 1975 and came into effect immediately on the same date.
In accordance with the Act, theEuropean Communities membership referendum took place on Thursday 5 June 1975, and voters approved continued EC/EEC membership by 67% to 33% on a national turnout of 64%.[2]
The Act became effectivelyspent following the declaration of the national referendum result; however, it was not officially repealed until eleven years later, by theStatute Law (Repeals) Act 1986.
The Act legislated for a non-binding referendum to be held in theUnited Kingdom on Thursday 5 June 1975 on the issue of continuing membership of the EC and the EEC (the Common Market), which was to be a single majority vote, to be overseen by an appointed "Chief counting officer" who would declare the final result for the United Kingdom. As there was no previous precedent for the holding of any such plebiscite across the United Kingdom the Act also set out its procedure and format.
The Act also provided for the equal public funding of two campaigns, one for a Yes vote, the other for a No vote. While each campaign was to receive the same amount of public money which amounted to £125,000 each, other donations were also to be permitted with no upper spending limit for either side .[3]
The Act allowed for the appointment of a "National Counting Officer" (later "Chief Counting Officer") who would lead and oversee the referendum both centrally and nationally. Also within the legislation it oversaw the appointment of the "Returning Officers" who would oversee the counts within their local areas. The Act legislated for verification which would be held at local authority level (district councils) after the close of polls, but the counting of votes would be only permitted and declared at the level of administrative regions under theLocal Government Act 1972 and theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973 as follows:
This meant there would be a total of 68 counting areas across the United Kingdom (47 inEngland, eight inWales, twelve inScotland, and a single area forNorthern Ireland). Verification took place locally in England and Wales after the polling stations closed, but the referendum count itself did not begin until the day following the poll, Friday 6 June, beginning at 09:00BST.
The Act set out the following question which the British electorate would be asked:
The Government has announced the results of the renegotiation of the United Kingdom's terms of membership of the European Community.
Do you think that the United Kingdom should stay in the European Community (the Common Market)?
permitting aYES /NO answer (to be marked with a (X)).
(The latter of the two statements in bold was written on the ballet papers in block capitals).
When the bill was introduced it gave the question to appear on ballot papers:
Do you think that the United Kingdom should stay in the European Community?
permitting aYES /NO answer (to be marked with a (X)).
The question was revised after the Government agreed to amend it to include the term "the Common Market" in brackets at the end of the question.
The right to vote in the referendum was given to those who were residents of the United Kingdom, who were citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKCs) and other persons with most other forms ofBritish nationality, orCommonwealth citizens, under theBritish Nationality Act 1948, in both cases, and alsocitizens of the Republic of Ireland resident in the United Kingdom, all of which as according to the provisions of theRepresentation of the People Act 1969. Members of theHouse of Lords were permitted to vote. Voting took place from 07:00 to 22:00British Summer Time on Thursday 5 June. The minimum age for voters in the referendum was 18 years, a figure in line with general elections in the UK at that time.
The national result was declared at around 23:00BST on Friday 6 June 1975 by the Chief Counting OfficerSir Phillip Allen inLondon after all sixty eight of the regional counting areas had declared their results.
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 17,378,581 | 67.23 |
| No | 8,470,073 | 32.77 |
| Valid votes | 25,848,654 | 99.78 |
| Invalid or blank votes | 54,540 | 0.22 |
| Total votes | 25,903,194 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | 40,086,677 | 64.62 |
| Source: House of Commons Library[4] | ||
NOTE: Unusually for a referendumYes was the no change (status quo) option.
| National referendum results (excluding invalid votes) | |
|---|---|
| Yes 17,378,581 (67.2%) | No 8,470,073 (32.8%) |
| ▲ 50% | |
| Country | Electorate | Voter turnout, of eligible | Votes | Proportion of votes | Invalid votes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | Yes | No | ||||||
| England | 33,356,208 | 64.6% | 14,918,009 | 6,182,052 | 68.65% | 31.35% | 42,161 | ||
| Northern Ireland | 1,030,534 | 47.4% | 259,251 | 237,911 | 52.19% | 47.81% | 1,589 | ||
| Scotland | 3,688,799 | 61.7% | 1,332,186 | 948,039 | 58.42% | 41.58% | 6,481 | ||
| Wales | 2,011,136 | 66.7% | 869,135 | 472,071 | 64.80% | 35.20% | 4,339 | ||
The result, with "yes" votes from all but two of the 68 regional counting areas, confirmed the commitment to continued membership of the EC and of the EEC ("the Common Market") on the renegotiated terms; and the government led byHarold Wilson took no further direct action. Until the2016 EU Referendum this was the only national referendum to be held in the United Kingdom regarding its relationship with the then European Communities; by then, both the EC the EEC had transformed (retrospectively) into theEuropean Union (EU), under the terms of theTreaty of the European Union (EU), known as the Maastricht Treaty (TEU) (1992, effective 1 November 1993).
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| Referendums | |
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