In November 2014, Mark Reckless won the Rochester and Strood by-election, giving UKIP a second MP. At the 2015 general election, Carswell retained his seat, becoming UKIP's only MP, though the party received 13% of the vote nationally (Reckless lost his seat to the Conservatives). Giles Watling was the Conservative candidate again, and came second in the constituency, 3,347 votes behind Carswell. The Conservative Party won an overall majority in the general election. In their manifesto, they had promised to hold a referendum on British membership of the European Union, which was held on 23 June 2016. The UK voted to leave the EU, with 52% of votes cast in favour of leaving.