Writing for the political magazine "The Spectator", Peter Hoskin stated that, while there had been many previous campaigns for such a referendum, the timing of the People's Pledge campaign was slightly more resonant. Hoskin cited the recent positions of the two parties that went on to form the governing coalition in 2010 and polling suggesting 54% of people would prefer to have a referendum on the issue of the EU, instead of the 2011 referendum on the Alternative Vote brought about as part of the coalition agreement and scheduled for 5 May 2011. This would be the first national referendum since the 1975 EU membership referendum. On the campaign's potential, he stated, "at the very least, it might persuade some candidates to face up to, and meet, the tide of public opinion on Europe", claiming that public support for leaving the EU had been steadily rising and even a large number of non-Eurosceptics have wanted such a referendum for some time.