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Referendums in the United Kingdom are occasionally held at a national, regional or local level. Historically, national referendums are rare due to the long-standing principle of parliamentary sovereignty. Legally there is no constitutional requirement to hold a national referendum for any purpose or on any issue. However, the UK Parliament is free to legislate through an Act of Parliament for a referendum to be held on any question at any time.
National referendums are regulated by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 which also regulates for regional and local referendums in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. In Scotland referendums on devolved matters are regulated under the Referendums (Scotland) Act 2020.[1]: 42
Only three national referendums have ever been held across the whole of the United Kingdom, the first, in 1975, on the issue of continued membership of the European Communities (EC), resulted in the UK remaining members of the organisations that were known as the Common Market and became the European Union. The second, in 2011, was on the proposed change of the voting system for parliament to alternative voting, which was rejected. The first international referendum was the 2016 European Union membership referendum, in which Gibraltar also took part.
The Government of the United Kingdom has also to date held ten major referendums within the constituent countries of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on issues of devolution, sovereignty and independence; the first such referendum was the 1973 Northern Ireland border poll and, as of 2023, the most recent is the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. The Scottish Government asked to hold a second Scottish independence referendum in October 2023, but this was rejected by the UK government, and the Supreme Court ruled that the Scottish parliament could not hold an independence referendum unilaterally.
There have also been numerous referendums held by local authorities on issues such as temperance and directly elected mayors.
- ^ Torrance, David (5 September 2021). "Scottish independence referendum: legal issues".
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