David Cameron has pledged that he will not stand as prime minister after the next election unless he can secure a referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU in 2017.
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Mr Cameron said he could “absolutely’’ give a cast-iron guarantee that the vote would go ahead in 2017 if he returned to Downing Street and that he would stand down if he could not promise a referendum in a future coalition.
“I’ve said very clearly that whatever the outcome of the next election, and of course I want an overall majority, and I’m hoping and believing I can win an overall majority, but people should be in no doubt I will not become prime minister unless I can guarantee that we will hold that referendum,” he said.
Setting out his position ahead of the European Parliament elections later this month, the prime minister said he was “confident’’ that he could renegotiate the UK’s relationship with Brussels.
“I’m confident that I can achieve the objectives I’ve set out and I think the right way to go into a negotiation is with a confident and positive nature that you will get those changes, and I want to see Britain stay in a reformed European Union,” he said.