During the years of the coalition government, Prime Minister David Cameron was much exercised by his desire to reverse the growing popularity of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), to achieve some degree of harmony and peace within the Conservative Party over the issue of the UK’s membership of the European Union, and to consolidate his own position. The solution was to give pride of place in the party’s 2015 election manifesto to the promise of a referendum on continued EU membership.
Having won the election, the new Conservative government immediately set about making legislative provision for the referendum, enacting the European Union Referendum Act 2015 (EURA 2015). The poll was held on 23 June 2016, and of those who cast a vote, 51.89% opted for leave, while 48.11% chose remain. Although the turnout was a relatively high 72%, the leave vote represented only 37% of the registered electorate:
