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Article: Major's maverick Gardiner defects to Referendum Party
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- March 9, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1997 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Sir George Gardiner, the right-wing MP de-selected by the
Conservatives, yesterday delivered another blow to John Major by
defecting to Sir James Goldsmith's Referendum Party.
The decision, which technically puts the Government in a
two-seat minority, is the first big propaganda coup for the
multimillionaire's Eurosceptic party.
Sir George and Sir James, who are old friends, had been
discussing the move for more than two weeks, but the MP finally
decided to go ahead on Thursday and will fight his Reigate seat as
a Referendum Party candidate. News of the defection was made
public in Glasgow after a meeting of the party's candidates in
Scotland.
Teresa Gorman, the Euro-sceptic MP, came close ...