In October 2011, 81 Conservative MPs defied a three-line whip to support a motion on a referendum on the European Union (EU). This was the largest ever backbench parliamentary rebellion on European integration. Two parliamentary private secretaries, Adam Holloway and Stewart Jackson, resigned and only half of non-payroll Conservative backbenchers supported the government. One Liberal Democrat and 19 Labour MPs supported the motion, but it was defeated by 481 votes to 109.
We should not assume that the rebellion marked a return to the Conservative divisions on Europe of the 1990s. The Conservatives are broadly united on a soft eurosceptic position that opposes further integration and seeks a rebalancing of Britain’s relationship with the EU. However, the EU referendum rebellion indicated that many Conservatives want the leadership to pursue soft eurosceptic policies more vigorously than it is doing in coalition with the pro-European Liberal Democrats.
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