British Parliamentarians and European Integration

Abstract

This note re-examines the survey data gathered by the Members of Parliament Project (MPP) on the attitudes of British parliamentarians towards European integration. Central to the analysis of the MPP is the idea that within the parties there is at work a dramatic cohort effect: long-serving Labour MPs are Eurosceptic, but the more recently elected Labour MPs are pro-European; whilst long-serving Conservative MPs are pro-European, but the more recently elected are Eurosceptic. The MPP have argued that this cohort effect began at different times in each party: in 1979 for the Conservatives and in 1987 for Labour. This note finds that whilst this is (largely) true for the Conservatives, it is not true for Labour. According to the MPP's own data, pro-European Labour MPs began entering the House of Commons in 1979, 8 years - and two elections - before the MPP have argued.

Keywords

Britain Euroscepticism intra-party divisions

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References

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