Electoral Systems and Democracy The 2016 referendum on UK membership of the European Union In January 2013 the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, promised that he would call a national "in/out' referendum on European Union (EU) membership if the Conservatives won the next general election. In line with this pledge, the referendum was later authorised by Parliament under the European Union Referendum Act (2015), with the referendum itself being held in June 2016. Some felt that David Cameron's original promise of a referendum was made for the wrong reasons. They argued that he had been trying to deal with divisions in his own party over the issue of Europe, rather than doing what was best for the country. In addition, critics argued that such a decision was too important to be left to the people; that referendums only serve to undermine representative democracy. Despite these concerns, 51.9% voted to leave the EU, and the 72.2% turnout at the referendum was higher than the 66.2% seen at the 2015 General Election. Adapted in part from Elise Uberoi (2016), European Union Referendum 2016, House of Commons Briefing Paper Number CBP 7639