Following the result of the Brexit referendum in 2016 Chris Heaton-Harris MP resigned as ERG's chairman and the new chairman Steve Baker and deputy chairman Michael Tomlinson announced a relaunch of the ERG, calling for the government to withdraw from the European Economic Area (EEA) and the European Union Customs Union. Baker was subsequently promoted to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union and in May 2017 Suella Braverman replaced him as the group's chairman.