UKICE: How widespread was the concern about UKIP’s electoral potential in a general election? I’ve always wondered whether the people pushing for a referendum in the Conservative Party were merely using the threat of that as leverage, or whether they were genuinely scared that UKIP might take seats from them and from other MPs.ĭG: I think there was a genuine concern, but it wasn’t so much about UKIP taking seats. If you’ve taken away the issue of EU membership then you’d essentially dealt with that threat, so I think that was about shoring up on the right hand side while also working in coalition with the Liberal Democrats. There was a sense of wanting to be able to neuter a populist party on the right. I think it would be fair to say that there was also a sense the right flank of the Cameron Government was under attack. Whether they were campaigning for a referendum or whether it was just wanting to have a big fight about Europe at almost every opportunity, there was an issue there. There were significant elements of the Conservative Party that were feeling restless about our membership of the European Union. There’s no doubt about it, a lot of this was about party management. UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE): As you were sitting there in Government during the coalition, did you yourself feel that a referendum was inevitable?ĭavid Gauke (DG): Yes, I think probably that’s right.
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