Referendum Act 1975

Referendum Act 1975

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to provide for the holding of a referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Economic Community.
Citation	1975 c. 33
Introduced by	Edward Short, Lord President of the Council (Commons) Elwyn Jones, Baron Elwyn-Jones, Lord Chancellor (Lords)
Territorial extent	England and Wales Scotland Northern Ireland
Dates
Royal assent	8 May 1975
Commencement	8 May 1975
Repealed	2 May 1986
Other legislation
Repealed by	Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1986 (c. 12)
Relates to	European Communities Act 1972 European Union Referendum Act 2015
Status: Repealed

Part of a series of articles on
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The Referendum Act 1975 (c. 33) also known at the time as the Referendum Bill was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which made legal provision for the holding of a consultative referendum on whether the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Communities (EC)—generally known at the time in the UK, with reference to their main component, the European Economic Community (EEC) as stipulated in the Act, also known at the time as the "Common Market".^[1] The Referendum Bill was introduced to the House of Commons by the Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council Edward Short on 26 March 1975; on its second reading on 10 April 1975, MPs voted 312–248 in favour of holding the referendum—which came the day after they voted to stay in the European Communities on the new terms set out in the renegotiation.

The Act gave effect to a manifesto commitment of the Labour Party at the general election of October 1974, and set out the arrangements and procedure for the United Kingdom's first ever national referendum, in which voting was to take place simultaneously in all parts of the country. The Act was given Royal Assent on 8 May 1975 and came into effect immediately on the same date.

In accordance with the Act, the European Communities membership referendum took place on Thursday 5 June 1975, and voters approved continued EC/EEC membership by 67% to 33% on a national turnout of 64%.^[2]

The Act became effectively spent following the declaration of the national referendum result; however, it was not officially repealed until eleven years later, by the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1986.