Poll: British support for EU membership hits 23-year high

The results of an opinion poll released by Ipsos MORI in October 2014 showed support among Britons for staying in the European Union was at its highest in 23 years, even though the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) was also gaining in popularity.

Under pressure from UKIP and Eurosceptic members of his Conservative party, British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to hold a referendum in 2017 on Britain's EU membership if the Conservative Party won the United Kingdom general election in 2015.

• Primary Source

ESO: In Focus: Brexit - The United Kingdom and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/brexit-the-united-kingdom-and-the-european-union/

ESO: Background information: In UK by-election, UKIP wins first parliamentary seat in landslide http://www.europeansources.info/record/in-uk-by-election-ukip-wins-first-parliamentary-seat-in-landslide/

Ipsos MORI: Poll, October 2014: Support for EU membership highest for 23 years, even as UKIP rises in the polls https://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/3463/Support-for-EU-membership-highest-for-23-years-even-as-UKIP-rises-in-the-polls.aspx#gallery[m]/1/

The Guardian, 22.10.14: Ukip's polarising effect: support for staying in the EU hits 23-year high http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/oct/22/ukips-polarising-effect-support-for-staying-in-the-eu-hits-23-year-high

EUObserver, 23.10.14: Poll shows UK support for EU at 20-year high http://euobserver.com/news/126208

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