Campaigning in the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum began unofficially on 20 February 2016 when Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

formally announced under the terms of the

European Union Referendum Act 2015 The European Union Referendum Act 2015 (c. 36) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made legal provision for a consultative referendum to be held in the United Kingdom and Gibraltar, on whether it should remain a membe ...

that a referendum would be held on the issue of the United Kingdom's membership of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. The official campaign period for the 2016 referendum ran from 15 April 2016 until the day of the poll on 23 June 2016.

Position of political parties

Designation of official campaign groups

At the close of applications on 31 March only

Britain Stronger in Europe Britain Stronger in Europe (formally The In Campaign Limited) was an advocacy group which campaigned in favour of the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, ...

had applied to the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

for the official "remain" designation. Three competing applications were submitted for the official "leave" designation. The

announced the designated campaign groups for the leave and remain sides on 13 April 2016, two days before the official ten-week campaign period began. * Designated official leading Remain campaigning group:

* Designated official leading Leave campaigning group:

Vote Leave Vote Leave was a campaigning organisation that supported a "Leave" vote in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. On 13 April 2016 it was designated by the Electoral Commission as the official campaign in favour of leavi ...

Remain groups

The Remain Campaign was led by

, a cross-party lobbying group that was declared as the official "Remain" campaign for the referendum by the

. However, there were a number of other groups that were involved in leading more specialist campaigns.

Leave groups

The

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

Library has established a collection of referendum leaflets from the remain groups.

Vote Leave

was the lead organisation campaigning for a leave vote in the referendum. On 13 April 2016, Vote Leave was designated by the

as the official campaign in favour of leaving the European Union for the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. Vote Leave was created in October 2015, and was a cross-party campaign, including members of Parliament from the Conservatives, Labour and UKIP. Paul Marshall, a

hedge fund A hedge fund is a Pooling (resource management), pooled investment fund that holds Market liquidity, liquid assets and that makes use of complex trader (finance), trading and risk management techniques to aim to improve investment performance and ...

manager, gave £100,000 to Vote Leave.

Leave.EU

Leave.EU Leave.EU was a political campaign group that was first established to support the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union in the June 2016 referendum. Founded in July 2015 as The Know, the campaign was relaunched in September of th ...

campaigned for a Leave vote, and tried to become the lead campaigner. Founded in July 2015 as The Know, the campaign was relaunched in September 2015 with its present name to reflect altered wording in the referendum question. The campaign, along with rival organisation Vote Leave, aimed to be formally designated as the lead campaign for the Leave vote by the Electoral Commission. On 13 April 2016, Vote Leave was designated by the Electoral Commission as the official campaign.

Grassroots Out

Grassroots Out was formed in January 2016 as a result of infighting between Vote Leave and Leave.EU and officially launched on 23 January 2016 in

Kettering Kettering is a market town, market and industrial town, industrial town in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, west of Cambridge, England, Cambridge, southwest of Peterborough, southeast of Leicester and north- ...

. Despite its name, it was started by politicians from a mixture of political parties, including

Peter Bone Peter William Bone (born 19 October 1952) is a British former politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wellingborough from 2005 until his removal in 2023. A member of the Conservative Party, he had sat as an independent in the Hou ...

Tom Pursglove Thomas Christopher John Pursglove (born 5 November 1988) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Minister of State for Legal Migration and the Border from December 2023 to July 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he was t ...

and

Liam Fox Sir Liam Fox (born 22 September 1961) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Defence from 2010 to 2011. A member of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...

from the Conservatives,

Kate Hoey Catharine Letitia Hoey, Baroness Hoey (born 21 June 1946), better known as Kate Hoey, is a Northern Irish politician and life peer who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Home Affairs from 1998 to 1999 and Minister for Sport from 1999 ...

from Labour,

Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage ( ; born 3 April 1964) is a British politician and broadcaster who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton (UK Parliament constituency), Clacton and Leader of Reform UK since 20 ...

from UKIP, Sammy Wilson from the DUP and

George Galloway George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician, broadcaster, and writer. He has been leader of the Workers Party of Britain since he founded it in 2019, and is a former leader of the Respect Party. Until 2003, he was a member ...

from Respect.

Labour Leave

Labour Leave campaigned within the Labour Party against the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union and was led by Labour MPs including

Graham Stringer Graham Eric Stringer (born 17 February 1950) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour politician who has served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Blackley and Middleton South since the 2024 United Kingdom general e ...

Kelvin Hopkins Kelvin Peter Hopkins (born 22 August 1941) is a British politician. He was first elected as the Labour Member of Parliament for Luton North in 1997. Hopkins was suspended by the Labour Party in 2017 after allegations of sexual misconduct wer ...

, and

Roger Godsiff Roger Duncan Godsiff (born 28 June 1946) is a British former politician who served as the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) from 1992 to 2019, for the seats of Birmingham Small Heath, Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath, and Birmingham Ha ...

Left Leave

Left Leave was a left-wing group campaigning for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. It was made up of a coalition of left-wing political parties and organisations, such as the

Communist Party of Britain The Communist Party of Britain (CPB) is a communist party in Great Britain which emerged from a dispute between Eurocommunists and Marxist-Leninists in the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1988. It follows Marxist-Leninist theory and su ...

, the

Respect Party The Respect Party was a left-wing to far-left socialist political party active in the United Kingdom between 2004 and 2016. At the height of its success in 2007, the party had one Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons and nineteen ...

and the

National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (commonly known as the RMT) is a British trade union covering the transport sector. Its current President is George Welch and its current General Secretary is Eddie Dempsey. The RMT ...

. The Left Leave campaign was chaired by Robert Griffiths, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain.

Trade Union and Socialist Coalition

The Trade Union and Socialist Coalition also applied to be the official "leave" campaign. It purported to represent anti-austerity campaigners who wished to leave the EU, rather than other leave groups who represent "pro-business" views.

Green Leaves

Within the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

(which supported Remain), this was an organisation of Green Party members who campaigned to leave the EU. Baroness Jones, the Leader of the Green Party in the House of Lords, was a supporter.

Liberal Leave

Within the Liberal Democrats (who supported Remain), this was a campaign group of Liberal Democrat activists who wanted to leave the EU, including councillors and the former MP for

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

Paul Keetch Paul Stuart Keetch (21 May 1961 – 24 May 2017) was a British Liberal Democrat politician and lobbyist who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hereford from 1997 to 2010. Early life He went to Hereford High School for Boys (now Ayleston ...

. They were also supported by the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

Campaign anthems

Both the Remain and Leave campaigns have released ''songs'' to promote their messages.

Gruff Rhys Gruffudd Maredudd Bowen Rhys (; born 18 July 1970) is a Welsh musician, composer, producer, filmmaker and author. He performs solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals, which obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He forme ...

for the Remain team entitles his song ''I love EU''. For the Leave campaign, UKIP Parliamentary Candidate Mandy Boylett created a parody of the ''Three'' ''Lions'' anthem;

David Baddiel David Lionel Baddiel (; born 28 May 1964) is an English comedian, presenter, screenwriter, author and singer. He became known for his early work alongside Rob Newman in '' The Mary Whitehouse Experience'' and later for his comedy partnership w ...

, who penned the original ''Three Lions'', described this version as "brilliantly naff". On 13 June 2016 Mandy Boylett launched a follow-up Brexit song, penning new words to Pink's ''

Get the Party Started "Get the Party Started" is a song by American singer Pink, released on October 16, 2001, as the lead single from her second album, '' Missundaztood'' (2001). The song was originally intended for Madonna's 2000 album ''Music'', but when her tea ...

''. The new song was immediately reported across the British Press including the

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

City AM ''City AM'' is a free business-focused newspaper distributed in and around London, England, with an accompanying website. In January 2025, it had a monthly online readership of 4m. In 2023 it had a print circulation of 67,714. History ''City ...

Individual endorsements

A number of politicians, public figures, newspapers and magazines, businesses and other organisations endorsed an official position during the Referendum campaign. These are listed in the article above.

Campaigning in Gibraltar

Unlike all other

British overseas territories The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

, Gibraltar was a part of the UK's

EU membership The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of Lists of member states of the European Union, 27 member states that are party to the EU's Treaties of the European Union, founding treaties, and thereby subject to the privileges and ...

and, consequently, the territory participated in the referendum. All major parties within the Gibraltar Parliament supported a "remain" vote.

Official investigations into campaigns

On 9 May 2016, Leave.EU was fined £50,000 by the UK

Information Commissioner's Office The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is a non-departmental public body which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. It is the independent regu ...

'for failing to follow the rules about sending marketing messages': they sent people text messages without having first gained their permission to do so. On 4 March 2017, the Information Commissioner's Office also reported that it was 'conducting a wide assessment of the data-protection risks arising from the use of data analytics, including for political purposes' in relation to the Brexit campaign. It was specified that among the organisations to be investigated was

Cambridge Analytica Cambridge Analytica Ltd. (CA), previously known as SCL USA, was a British political consulting firm that came to prominence through the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal. It was started in 2013, as a subsidiary of the private intell ...

and its relationship with the Leave.EU campaign. The findings were expected to be published sometime in 2017.Carole Cadwalladr,
The great British Brexit robbery: how our democracy was hijacked
, ''The Observer'' (Sunday 7 May 2017). On 21 April 2017, the

announced that it was investigating 'whether one or more donations – including of services – accepted by Leave.EU was impermissible; and whether Leave.EU's spending return was complete', because 'there were reasonable grounds to suspect that potential offences under the law may have occurred'.Electoral Commission statement on investigation into Leave.EU
(21 April 2017).

References

{{United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, 2016, state=expanded Campaigning