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Article: Euro-rebel MP defects to Referendum Party
- Article from:
- The Sunday Telegraph London
- Article date:
- March 9, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1997 The Sunday Telegraph London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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THE Referendum Party gained its first MP with the defection last
night of Sir George Gardiner, the veteran Euro-sceptic who was
deselected by his Conservative association last month.
Sir George announced that he was resigning the Tory whip
immediately and would contest the election for the Referendum Party
in Reigate, where a Tory candidate has been chosen in his place.
In a bitter attack on the Prime Minister, he accused Mr Major of
"an abdication of national leadership without parallel in the
history of Britain over a hundred years".
The defection was a fresh blow to the Conservative high command,
which is fighting an uphill battle to maintain a semblance of party
unity before the ...