Grassroots Briefing: 

Building the Pro-European 

Alliance 
It starts with you 
This briefing for pro-European campaigners is intended to supplement Best for Britain’s 
Grassroots guide to building the Pro-European Alliance​. It should help local campaigners to 
effectively take part in and drive the formation of Alliances from the ground up.  

Does South East England need Alliances? 

No Deal Brexit must be stopped. Government analysis shows the South East’s no-deal economy 
could be up to 7.5% smaller in the long term.1  

Service Industry:  
Many service suppliers rely on access to the EU market in many different sectors including 
agriculture and manufacturing. Any loss of access, even in different areas of the country, will have 
a knock-on effect to the demand of service providers in the South East. According to the Office of 
National Statistics, around 38,000 people are employed in the financial sector in the South East.2 
These jobs would be the most exposed to losses resulting from the relocation of banks and 
insurers to EU member states to maintain market access.  

South East’s Travel Hub status:  

If the UK leaves the EU, the South East’s status as a travel hub for the country would be at risk.3 
New customs arrangements in a no-deal situation for airports, seaports and the Channel Tunnel 
would have to consider how to handle immigration as well as goods inspection. Inspection 
facilities would need to expand to accommodate the increased customs checks. The South East 
alone contains over 35,000 jobs within the aviation industry.4 Brexit would impact the logistic 
capacity of transport and travel links with the EU.  

Economy:  
The South East of England faces an economic disaster if the UK leaves with no-deal. The 
Government’s EU Exit Analysis predicts an economic shrink of 7.5%​ ​within the South East in a 
no-deal situation.5 The UK Trade Policy Observatory predicts a loss of 43,000 jobs within 
Hampshire and Sussex alone in a no-deal scenario.6 Southern towns are predicted to be some of 
the most severely impacted by Brexit according to a study performed by the Centre for Economic 

1
​EU Exit Analysis Cross Whitehall Briefing​ pg 23 
2
​Post Brexit Trade Policy: The South-East Perspective​ pg 1 
3
​Post Brexit Trade Policy: The South-East Perspective​ pg 1 
4
​Aviation Sector Report​ pg 2 
5
​EU Exit Analysis Cross Whitehall Briefing​ pg 23 
6
​Residents of Hampshire and Sussex could lose 43,000 jobs in a ‘No deal’ Brexit 

Printed and promoted by Best for Britain, the campaign name of UK-EU OPEN POLICY LIMITED registered at 
International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London, EC1A 2BN. Best for Britain is registered with The Electoral 
Commission. 
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 Best for Britain - Grassroots groups Pro-EU Alliance briefing note 

 
Performance, with Reading, Worthing, and Slough predicted to experience a -2.8% impact to 
economic output.7  

How do we know an Alliance will work? 

 

Left:​ The chart shows the 

difference a Pro-EU Alliance would 
make for anti-Brexit parties in the 
South East of England in a general 
election.  

As can be seen in this chart, if 

Pro-EU parties fail to work 
together and allow the votes to be 
split they stand to win just a 
handful of seats. 

But if Pro-EU parties do work together they would more than double their seat share in the region 
and could make the key difference in the balance of power in Parliament between pro-Remain and 
pro-Brexit parties.  

Are voters in the South East ready for a Pro-EU Alliance? 

Best for Britain’s ‘Brexit Shift’ report from December 20188 found 5.9% more voters in the South 
East would vote remain, showing there is significant movement towards backing the UK’s 
membership of the EU. 

There has also been a distinct move by Conservative seats towards remain. 50 of the 81 seats that 
have switched from leave to remain since July 2018 are Conservative seats, predominantly in the 
East, South East and South West regions of England. In total, 91 Conservative seats have switched 
from leave to remain since 2016. 

Our analysis shows that Amber Rudd’s seat of Hastings and Rye has switched so that the majority 
of voters now back remain (43.8% in 2016 to 50.5% in November 2018) 

   

7
​The Local Economic Effects of Brexit​ pg 14 - 22 
 
8
Brexit Shift 2.0, published by Best for Britain and Hope not hate, December 2018, 
https://www.bestforbritain.org/brexit-shift-2 

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 Best for Britain - Grassroots groups Pro-EU Alliance briefing note 

Who needs an Alliance? 

● Over 1.9 million switchers:​ ​Since the referendum, UK public opinion has shifted towards 
remaining in the EU, with over 10% of 2016 Leave voters now backing Remain as of 
November 2018. 
● Almost a fifth of UK voters are ‘persuadable’: ​Our data shows that 17% of UK voters can 
change their minds on Brexit, with 7% being soft Leavers that could potentially move 
towards Remain.  

So who are the switchers?  

In the South East, the biggest group of switchers from Leave to Remain are young voters 
(especially young women) that either supported Labour in 2015 or have switched from supporting 
the Conservatives in 2015 to Labour or other parties in 2017.  

Young (18-34) women who supported the Conservatives in 2015 are the demographic most likely 
to have switched, with over 20% of those who voted Leave now in favour of staying in.  

● For those young female Leavers that voted Conservative in 2015 but did not support the 
Tories in 2017, the number is 25%.  
● The trend is largely the same among young people that voted for Labour in 2015: 20% of 
Leave supporters in this demographic have switched to Remain.  

Young people, women, and disillusioned Conservative voters will continue to shift towards 
Remain as the consequences of a no deal Brexit become ever more apparent. 

What can you do? 

You have a voice. You represent a body of opinion in your area and on that basis alone you 
have a platform. But more than that, you represent an organised group with a supporter 
base and volunteers separate from the local political parties. That’s no small thing. 

Use your platform and the assets you have been building up over the past three years -  

● Use your status as a community leader to meet local party representatives in person 
● Use your platform to convene negotiations as a party-political ‘neutral’ participant  
● Use your group’s organisation as proof you can provide support and volunteers for the 
Alliance candidate 
● Use your supporters and volunteers to lobby local politicians 
● Use your social media to highlight the need for an Alliance and the support for it 
● Use local spokespeople to write to local papers and promote the Alliance 

Every area has different politics, history and local character. There is no one-size-fits-all answer. 
That’s why you, as a local campaigner, are best placed to make this happen. ​Good luck! 

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