ABSTRACT
The question of the United Kingdom’s (UK) relationship with, and role in, the European Union (EU) has been one of the most divisive and damaging issues in British party politics since the end of the Second World War. Furthermore, although it is perhaps less destabilizing than it once was, the question of the country’s relationship with the EU continues to be a politically difficult one, not least because there is still no domestic consensus on the subject. Regardless of the views of the parties on the issue, however, and regardless of public opinion, growing European integration has brought pressure for institutional adaptation. For example, studies have demonstrated that the UK’s institutions of government have successfully adapted to European integration (Allen 2005; Bulmer and Burch 2005). To date, however, little work exists that has examined the degree to which the parties themselves have adapted in response to increased levels of integration.
