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 Greater London need Alliances? 

This is the reason an Alliance is necessary - No Deal Brexit must be stopped. Government analysis 
shows the Greater London’s no-deal economy could be up to 3.5% smaller in the long term.1  

Migration:  
London relies on non-UK workers more than anywhere else in the UK, with a higher proportion 
than anywhere else in the UK. Financial & professional services, construction, creative sector, 
science and technology are expected to be some of the hardest hit by Brexit. Construction and 
Hospitality, which need some less-skilled labour and employ the largest proportion of EU 
migrants, are expected to be particularly damaged by Brexit in London by comparison to the rest 
of the UK.2  

Social Care:  
Around 13% of London’s care workers are EU Nationals. 3 These care workers are vital to the 
functioning of London’s care services. As an example, 21.3% of care workers are from EEA 
countries in the local authority of Lambeth, one of the highest EU employment proportions in care 
services in England and which represents 1,598 of 7000 total employees.4 

Jobs:  
London will be severely impacted by a no-deal Brexit. According to the Greater London Authorities 
“Preparing for Brexit” impact study, London will lose 87,000 jobs by 2030 and will suffer a loss of 
£10.8 billion over the next 11 years.5 

   

1
​EU Exit Analysis​ pg 23 
2
​Preparing for Brexit​ pg 8 
3
​The adult social care workforce in England​ pg 8 
4
​The adult social care workforce in England​ pg 39 
5
​Preparing for Brexit​ pg 8 

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 what would happen in a 
general election in London if there was a Tory / 
Brexit Party Pact without a Pro-EU Alliance to 
oppose them.  

In this scenario, the Pro-EU vote would be split. 

Pro-EU parties failing to work together would 
allow the Tory/Brexit Party Pact to take a massive 
number of seats. 

London is Pro-European. This outcome, sending 

so many Brexiter MPs to Parliament, would not 
represent the city’s views. 

Right:​ This second chart shows what would 

happen in a general election if the Pro-EU parties 
do work together in London.  

A Pro-EU Alliance makes a clear difference to the 

overall seat share. By working together and not 
splitting the Pro-EU vote between themselves, the 
impact of the Brexit Party is massively mitigated, 
with the party taking 5 seats in total from mainly 
Conservative seats.  

It is clear that a Pro-EU Alliance is vitally needed to 

make sure the Pro-EU city is represented by Pro-EU 
MPs. 

Are voters ready for a Pro-EU Alliance? 

Best for Britain’s ‘Brexit Shift’ report from December 20186 found 141 seats in Great Britain have 
moved more than 10% towards remain since the 2016 referendum. 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. 

6
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 London, 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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