Pls inform this ignorant American (me)

[ellenrr]

(I just posted this on GD - did not know there was a UK group)
this is my question:

Why was there this referendum--
did some group bring it up, did the government, how did it come to be?
And why now?

Is it the first time there has been a referendum since Britain has been in the EU?

thanks.

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. The right of the Tory party has, for a couple of decades, wanted to get out of the EU

ever since John Major signed the Maastricht Agreement in the mid 90s. They were gradually losing more and more support to the single-issue UKIP party over this - in the 2014 EU parliament election, UKIP got more votes than any other party. So Cameron said he'd hold a referendum if he won the 2015 general election, to keep voters in the Tory party. He did a bit of negotiation, and thought he had a defensible 'Remain' position, and called the referendum.

[ellenrr]

2. thank you. nt