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 the East Midlands need Alliances? 

No Deal Brexit must be stopped. The UK Trade Policy Observatory forecasts up to 58,000 jobs 
could be lost if the UK crashes out without a deal. Government analysis shows the East Midlands’ 
no-deal economy could be up to 8.5% smaller in the event of a no-deal Brexit.1  

EU Nationals:  
EU Migrants are a valuable and vital part of the workforce in the East Midlands. Just over one in 
four businesses in the East Midlands rely on overseas workers, with a fifth or more of their 
workforce made up of migrant workers. The region has one of the highest proportions of EU 
nationals employed in food and drink manufacture (over 30% between 2013-15).2 73% of East 
Midlands businesses believe they require immigration to fill a skills gap, and 43% believe red tape 
around immigration needs to be reduced.3 Leicester hospitals are already struggling to fill nurses 
posts since the Brexit vote in 2016, with 500 EU nurses who came to work to Leicester hospitals 
that year having returned home since.4  

Businesses:  
53% of East Midlands businesses believe the UK’s leverage for trade deals will decrease after 
Brexit, and almost a fifth (17%) have said they will move functions to an EU site, with 9% having 
already done so. Analysis of EU exposure by City-REDI indicates that the Midlands and the North of 
England are more at risk because they have stronger trade links with the EU, with areas such as 
South and West Derbyshire being most dependent on EU goods exports.5  

Aerospace industry:  
The East Midlands is one of the three largest regions in the UK for aerospace jobs, representing 
16% of total UK aerospace jobs awarded almost €50 billion of R&D grants between 2007 and 2013.6 

1
​EU Exit Analysis’​,​ ​Cross Whitehall Briefing pg 23  
2
Parliament report 
3
Shakespeare Martineau Report​ pg 4 
4
Hinckley Times 
5
IPPR 
6
Aerospace sector report 

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 

How do we know an Alliance will work? 

Left:​ This chart shows the 
difference between a 
general election in the East 
Midlands where Pro-EU 
parties work together to 
oppose a Tory/Brexit Party 
Pact and one where they 
did not.  

If the Pro-EU parties fail to 

work together and Pro-EU 
voters are split, the East 
Midlands would end up 
with just a handful of 
Pro-EU MPs. 

A Pro-EU Alliance in the East Midlands would more than double the seat share of Pro-EU parties in 
the region and could make the key difference in the balance of power in Parliament between 
pro-EU and pro-Brexit parties.  

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

Best for Britain’s ‘Brexit Shift’ report from December 20187 found 141 seats in Great Britain had 
moved more than 10% towards remain since the 2016 referendum. These include seats in Derby, 
and 67 of these seats have moved from majority leave to remain since 2016. 

Every one of the 632 seats in Great Britain has moved towards remain since June 2016. The largest 
movements can be seen in Labour seats that backed leave in 2016, with Labour holding 49 of the 
top 50 seats with the largest swings towards remain. 

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. 

   

7
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 East Midlands, 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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