Labour for a Referendum (LfR) was a political campaign by members of the Labour Party that sought a referendum in the United Kingdom on the European Union. The movement was set up following a pledge by the Conservative Party to hold an in–out vote if re-elected in

2015 United Kingdom general election The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. It was the first and only general election held at the end of a Parliament under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Loca ...

. In the election campaign, Labour Party policy was that such a referendum would be an unnecessary distraction from government priorities. Following the Conservative victory in that election, the Labour Party committed to supporting passage of a Referendum Bill through Parliament thus achieving the result sought by this campaign. The campaign was chaired by JML chairman and Labour party donor John Mills, and directed by Dominic Moffitt, with party support from over 50 councillors, three council leaders and MPs including Kate Hoey, John McDonnell and Keith Vaz, the campaign aimed to move the policy of the Labour Party to one which supports a referendum on membership of the EU, with the intention that this might help to secure a victory in the 2015 general election. Former Northern Ireland spokesman Jim Dowd MP said: "I have been a supporter of this cause for many years and firmly believe the Labour Party must commit to a referendum before the European elections next year. As the Tories tear themselves apart over this issue, Labour for a Referendum provides the opportunity to unite the party on giving the people a say on our future in the EU."

Notable supporters

After it launched in May 2013, it attracted support from a number of councillors, MPs and party activists. * Jim Dowd, MP for Lewisham West and Penge and former Northern Ireland spokesman * Keith Vaz, MP for Leicester East and former Europe minister * Kate Hoey, MP for Vauxhall * John Cryer, MP for Leyton and Wanstead * Rosie Cooper, MP for West Lancashire *

Graham Stringer Graham Eric Stringer (born 17 February 1950) is a British Labour Party politician serving as MP for Blackley and Broughton since 1997. Before entering Parliament, he served as leader of Manchester City Council from 1984 to 1996, and chair of ...

, MP for Blackley and Broughton * Austin Mitchell, former MP for Great Grimsby *

Lord Moonie Lewis George Moonie, Baron Moonie (born 25 February 1947) is a British politician. He was the Labour Co-operative Member of Parliament (MP) for Kirkcaldy from 1987 to 2005. Early life He attended the Grove Academy in Dundee. He studied medi ...

, Member of the House of Lords *David Drew, former MP for Stroud *Kevin Meagher, associate editor of ''Labour Uncut'' * Owen Jones, ''Guardian'' columnist *Richard Wilson

Status following the 2015 general election

Following the May

, the Labour Party declared that it would support the parliamentary bill for the

2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...

, achieving the aim of the campaign. , the status of the group was unclear and its web site appeared to be closed.

References

{{Authority control European Union–related advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Organisations associated with the Labour Party (UK) Political organisations based in the United Kingdom Political campaigns in the United Kingdom 2013 in British politics