# Campaigning in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum

Part of a series of articles on :
Brexit :
Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union
Glossary of terms :
Background
European Communities Act
1975 EC membership referendum
UK rebate
Bruges speech
No. No. No.
Maastricht Rebels
Black Wednesday
European Union (Amendment) Act 2008
European Union Act 2011
UK opt-outs from EU legislation
Euroscepticism in the UK
UK opinion polling on EU membership
Campaigns for a referendum
People's Pledge
Labour for a Referendum
Bloomberg speech
In or Out
2013–14 EU (Referendum) Bill (unsuccessful)
2014 European Parliament election
2014 UK Parliament by-elections
Clacton
Heywood and Middleton
Rochester and Strood
2015 UK general election
2015–16 EU membership renegotiation :
2016 referendum
EU Referendum Act (Gibraltar)
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Opinion polling
UK Government pro-EU leaflet
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Business for Britain
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Better Off Out
Grassroots Out
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Get Britain Out
Bruges Group
Campaign for an Independent Britain
Brexit: The Movie
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European Movement UK
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British Influence
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Nucleus
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Outcome
Results
Causes for result
International reactions
Immediate aftermath
2016 Conservative Party election
2016 Labour Party election
2016 UKIP election
Department for Exiting the EU
Department for International Trade
Allegations of unlawful campaigning
Alleged Russian interference :
Notice of withdrawal
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Miller case (Article 50)
EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017
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Timeline: 2017, 2018, 2019
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Withdrawal agreement
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Northern Ireland Protocol Bill
Windsor Framework :
Legislation
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Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018
Cooper–Letwin Act
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Public Vote Bill (not passed)
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Scottish EU Continuity Bill (blocked)
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Right to Vote :
Timeline Bloomberg speech Jan 2013 Referendum Bill blockedJan 2014 European Parliament election May 2014 2015 general election May 2015 Renegotiation begins Jun 2015 Referendum Act passed Dec 2015 Renegotiation concluded Feb 2016 Referendum held Jun 2016 David Cameron resigns as PM Jul 2016 Theresa May becomes PM Jul 2016 Article 50 judgement Jan 2017 Brexit plan presentedFeb 2017 Notification Act passed Mar 2017 Article 50 invoked Mar 2017 Repeal Bill plan presentedMar 2017 2017 general election Jun 2017 Brexit negotiations begin Jun 2017 Withdrawal Act passedJun 2018 Chequers plan presented Jul 2018 Withdrawal agreement plan presented July 2018 Withdrawal agreement released Nov 2018 Scottish Continuity Bill blockedDec 2018 Meaningful votes Jan–Mar 2019 Brexit delayed until 12 April Mar 2019 Cooper–Letwin Act passed Apr 2019 Brexit delayed until 31 October Apr 2019 European Parliament election May 2019 Theresa May resigns as PM Jul 2019 Boris Johnson becomes PM Jul 2019 Prorogation and annulment Aug–Sep 2019 Benn Act passed Sep 2019 Withdrawal agreement revised Oct 2019 Brexit delayed until 31 January Oct 2019 2019 general election Dec 2019 Agreement Act passed Jan 2020 UK leaves the European Union Jan 2020 Implementation period begins Jan 2020 UK–EU trade deal agreed Dec 2020 Future Relationship Act passed Dec 2020 Scottish Continuity Act passed Dec 2020 Implementation period ends Dec 2020 New EU–UK relationship begins Jan 2021 UK–EU trade deal ratified Apr 2021 Windsor Framework released Feb 2023 Windsor framework adopted Mar 2023 :
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Campaigning in the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum began unofficially on 20 February 2016 when Prime Minister David Cameron formally announced under the terms of the European Union Referendum Act 2015 that a referendum would be held on the issue of the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union. The official campaign period for the 2016 referendum ran from 15 April 2016 until the day of the poll on 23 June 2016.

## Position of political parties

| Position | Political parties (Great Britain) (England and Wales, and Scotland) |
| Remain | Green Party of England and Wales |
| Remain | Labour Party |
| Remain | Liberal Democrats |
| Remain | Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales |
| Remain | Scottish Green Party |
| Remain | Scottish National Party (SNP) |
| Leave |
| Leave | UK Independence Party (UKIP) |
| Neutral | Conservative Party |
| Position | Political parties (Northern Ireland) |
| Remain | Alliance Party of Northern Ireland |
| Remain | Green Party in Northern Ireland |
| Remain | Sinn Féin |
| Remain | Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) |
| Remain | Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) |
| Leave |
| Leave | Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) |
| Leave | People Before Profit Alliance (PBP) |
| Leave | Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) |
| Position | Political parties (Gibraltar) |
| Remain | Gibraltar Social Democrats |
| Remain | Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party |
| Remain | Liberal Party of Gibraltar |

## Designation of official campaign groups

At the close of applications on 31 March only Britain Stronger in Europe had applied to the Electoral Commission for the official "remain" designation. Three competing applications were submitted for the official "leave" designation. The Electoral Commission announced the designated campaign groups for the leave and remain sides on 13 April 2016, two days before the official ten-week campaign period began.
* Designated official leading Remain campaigning group: Britain Stronger in Europe
* Designated official leading Leave campaigning group: Vote Leave

## Remain groups

The Remain Campaign was led by Britain Stronger in Europe, a cross-party lobbying group that was declared as the official "Remain" campaign for the referendum by the Electoral Commission. However, there were a number of other groups that were involved in leading more specialist campaigns.

## Leave groups

The London School of Economics Library has established a collection of referendum leaflets from the remain groups.

### Vote Leave

Vote Leave was the lead organisation campaigning for a leave vote in the referendum. On 13 April 2016, Vote Leave was designated by the Electoral Commission as the official campaign in favour of leaving the European Union for the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. Vote Leave was created in October 2015, and was a cross-party campaign, including members of Parliament from the Conservatives, Labour and UKIP.
Paul Marshall, a hedge fund manager, gave £100,000 to Vote Leave.

### Leave.EU

Leave.EU campaigned for a Leave vote, and tried to become the lead campaigner. Founded in July 2015 as The Know, the campaign was relaunched in September 2015 with its present name to reflect altered wording in the referendum question. The campaign, along with rival organisation Vote Leave, aimed to be formally designated as the lead campaign for the Leave vote by the Electoral Commission. On 13 April 2016, Vote Leave was designated by the Electoral Commission as the official campaign.

### Grassroots Out

Grassroots Out was formed in January 2016 as a result of infighting between Vote Leave and Leave.EU and officially launched on 23 January 2016 in Kettering. Despite its name, it was started by politicians from a mixture of political parties, including Peter Bone, Tom Pursglove and Liam Fox from the Conservatives, Kate Hoey from Labour, Nigel Farage from UKIP, Sammy Wilson from the DUP and George Galloway from Respect.

### Labour Leave

Labour Leave campaigned within the Labour Party against the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union and was led by Labour MPs including Kate Hoey, Graham Stringer, Kelvin Hopkins, and Roger Godsiff.

### Left Leave

Left Leave was a left-wing group campaigning for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. It was made up of a coalition of left-wing political parties and organisations, such as the Communist Party of Britain, the Respect Party and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers. The Left Leave campaign was chaired by Robert Griffiths, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain.

### Trade Union and Socialist Coalition

The Trade Union and Socialist Coalition also applied to be the official "leave" campaign. It purported to represent anti-austerity campaigners who wished to leave the EU, rather than other leave groups who represent "pro-business" views.

### Green Leaves

Within the Green Party (which supported Remain), this was an organisation of Green Party members who campaigned to leave the EU. Baroness Jones, the Leader of the Green Party in the House of Lords, was a supporter.

### Liberal Leave

Within the Liberal Democrats (who supported Remain), this was a campaign group of Liberal Democrat activists who wanted to leave the EU, including councillors and the former MP for Hereford, Paul Keetch. They were also supported by the Liberal Party.

## Campaign anthems

Both the Remain and Leave campaigns have released songs to promote their messages. Gruff Rhys for the Remain team entitles his song I love EU. For the Leave campaign, UKIP Parliamentary Candidate Mandy Boylett created a parody of the Three Lions anthem; David Baddiel, who penned the original Three Lions, described this version as "brilliantly naff".
On 13 June 2016 Mandy Boylett launched a follow-up Brexit song, penning new words to Pink's Get the Party Started. The new song was immediately reported across the British Press including the Daily Express, City AM

## Individual endorsements

A number of politicians, public figures, newspapers and magazines, businesses and other organisations endorsed an official position during the Referendum campaign. These are listed in the article above.

## Campaigning in Gibraltar

Unlike all other British overseas territories, Gibraltar was a part of the UK's EU membership and, consequently, the territory participated in the referendum. All major parties within the Gibraltar Parliament supported a "remain" vote.

## Official investigations into campaigns

On 9 May 2016, Leave.EU was fined £50,000 by the UK Information Commissioner's Office 'for failing to follow the rules about sending marketing messages': they sent people text messages without having first gained their permission to do so.
On 4 March 2017, the Information Commissioner's Office also reported that it was 'conducting a wide assessment of the data-protection risks arising from the use of data analytics, including for political purposes' in relation to the Brexit campaign. It was specified that among the organisations to be investigated was Cambridge Analytica and its relationship with the Leave.EU campaign. The findings were expected to be published sometime in 2017.
On 21 April 2017, the Electoral Commission announced that it was investigating 'whether one or more donations – including of services – accepted by Leave.EU was impermissible; and whether Leave.EU's spending return was complete', because 'there were reasonable grounds to suspect that potential offences under the law may have occurred'.