ABSTRACT

This article empirically tests the views of the contemporary British parliamentary elites on Europe. It draws on the results of an ESRC survey sent to all 659 MPs in mid-1998, and builds on the results of the two previous ESRC surveys examining Conservative and Labour MP’s views on European integration. The new survey examines the views of the large influx of new Labour MPs, widely believed to be very pro-European, as well as testing whether the remaining Conservative MPs are as eurosceptic as is commonly assumed. Both major parties have significant minorities opposed to the party line on Europe, especially on issues which deal with fundamental questions of national sovereignty and interdependence; there also appears to be a clear shift in attitudes in both the earlier Conservative and Labour cohorts.