Grassroots Out (GO) was an organisation funded by Arron Banks that campaigned in favour of EU withdrawal in the 2016 referendum on EU membership in the United Kingdom. The organisation was formed in January 2016, as a result of infighting between

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 ...

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, Tom Pursglove,

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 ...

of the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

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 ...

of 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 ...

UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...

and Sammy Wilson of the DUP. The left wing

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 ...

later joined Grassroots Out.

Campaign

GO came into being following a number of controversies within

, the original cross-party movement campaigning for Brexit, and infighting between Vote Leave and Leave.EU. The current affairs magazine ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised ...

'' said:

Although rassroots Outis little more than another Ukip front – with Farage at its launch and Ukip moneybags Arron Banks providing cash – Labour MP
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 ...
has signed up, so disillusioned are she and other Labour Euroscptics with Kurtz ominic Cummings, leader of Vote Leave

On 13 February 2016,

leader

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 ...

interviewed UKIP leader Farage on ''

Sputnik Sputnik 1 (, , ''Satellite 1''), sometimes referred to as simply Sputnik, was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space progra ...

'', the show he presents for the Russian RT television network; Galloway and Farage agreed on everything that was discussed and Galloway expressed his commitment to joining GO. On 6 February 2016, the campaign expressed interest into seeking 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 ...

designation for the official Leave campaign against Vote Leave and Leave.EU. Co founder of GO Tom Pursglove, said "If we are going to win this crucial referendum for the future of our country, it is imperative that the current impasse, which is serving as an enormous distraction, must come to an end and it seems that there is a growing mood that GO could well be the vehicle to achieve this – indeed, we have been approached by many people in many parties, enquiring as to whether this might be possible." On 16 February 2016, ''Go Movement Ltd'' (an umbrella group made up of Eurosceptics from GO, UKIP and Leave.EU – but not Vote Leave) announced that it would apply to the Electoral Commission to be designated as the official Leave campaign for the upcoming referendum. On 13 April 2016, rival organisation Vote Leave was designated by the Electoral Commission as the official referendum campaign in favour of leaving the EU. In response, GO said it would now work with Vote Leave to win the EU Referendum. However, the Head of Communications for Leave.EU, Andy Wigmore, said that Leave.EU would apply for a judicial review of the decision. He suggested that the referendum could be delayed until 23 October 2016 while the review took place.

Music and merchandise

GO has generated a great deal of debate with its brand promotions in support of the Brexit campaign. Many of these products were summarised by columnist Joel Golby for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' Comment is Free section. UKIP Parliamentary Candidate Mandy Boylett created a parody of the '' Three Lions'' anthem, which went viral in February 2016. Reviews ranged from "this anti EU music video parody is the worst song to come from UK politics yet" from Ryan Barrell in ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'' to "It's an astonishing watch, arguably better than the original and with the potential to inspire just as many ordinary Englanders to get out and support their country. Ish" from Guy Kelly in ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

''. David Baddiel, who penned the original ''Three Lions'' anthem, described this version as "brilliantly naff". Marina Hyde in ''

'' suggested Boylett as the lead act in an anti EU music festival reportedly taking place in May. On 13 June 2016, Mandy Boylett launched a follow-up Brexit song, penning new words to Pink's ''Get this party started''. The new song was immediately reported across the British Press and European 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 ...

and Global (Denmark)

References

{{Nigel Farage Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum 2015 establishments in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 2015 Brexit-related advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Nigel Farage 2015 quotations Political phrases related to Brexit (2016–2020)

Campaign

Music and merchandise

See also

References