The European dividing line in party politics

Bibliographic Data

ID7803456
AuthorsJulie Smith (0000-0003-2347-2070, University of Cambridge, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume88
Issue6
Pages1277-1295
Publication date2012-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-5850 • E-ISSN: 1468-2346
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1468-2346.2012.01132.x
OpenAlexW2146172499
LanguageEN
Citations received9

Europe has long divided the UK's political parties, especially the Conservatives and Labour. The parliamentary vote to enter the Common Market relied on rebel pro-European Labour MPs, while in the 1980s Labour was calling for withdrawal. If a decade on the Conservative Party saw a growing number of rebels against the Treaty of Maastricht, three decades later those Tory rebels—alongside a new party established to oppose membership, the UK Independence Party—have grown in number and look to the UK's ultimate withdrawal from the EU. This article explores the impact of European integration on British party politics, examining the ways in which it has caused division and fragmentation at the national level. It then looks at the impact of British membership on European level parties, which have also seen a degree of fragmentation owing to the nature of British parties

Economics · European integration · European union · Independence (probability theory) · International trade · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Treaty · European Union Policy and Governance · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Political Systems and Governance

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