The Referendum Party was a single issue party that briefly existed in the UK during the 1990s, with pretty much the sole aim of forcing a referendum on Britiain's membership of the EU. Although the investment of its founder, millionaire James Goldsmith, meant that it was well resourced for a new party, and was able to run candidates in the majority of seats at the 1997 election, it nevertheless performed poorly, only winning 2.6% of the vote. Goldsmith died of cancer shortly after, and the party was wounded up later that year.
Had the party stuck around for a little longer (Goldsmith not dying seems the most likely PoD) and contested the 1999 European Parliament Elections, it would seem to me that they would be well positioned to benefit from the eurosceptic protest vote, and, in the long run, become main anti-EU party in British politics.
So my questions are; how would UK politics be effected in the long run if the Referendum Party, rather than UKIP, were the major eurosceptic force? How would it develop over the following decades? Could they be as successful, and eventually make a breakthrough in domestic politics, and if not, what, if anything would fill the vacuum?
Had the party stuck around for a little longer (Goldsmith not dying seems the most likely PoD) and contested the 1999 European Parliament Elections, it would seem to me that they would be well positioned to benefit from the eurosceptic protest vote, and, in the long run, become main anti-EU party in British politics.
So my questions are; how would UK politics be effected in the long run if the Referendum Party, rather than UKIP, were the major eurosceptic force? How would it develop over the following decades? Could they be as successful, and eventually make a breakthrough in domestic politics, and if not, what, if anything would fill the vacuum?