People (people like Theresa May and Nigel Farridge) keep telling me that the 2016 referendum was the biggest vote for anything, ever, or the biggest democratic exercise ever. They're right about the first, and wrong about the second, and there's a variety of numbers you should look at.
The 2016 vote for Leave was bigger than any party has received in any general election, and larger than the 1975 vote to stay in the EEC. By just 32,161 votes. The majority in 2016 was less decisive than in 1975, and the population was rather smaller 43 years ago.
1975 EEC referendum
votes for Stay In: 17,378,581
vote share 67.2%
electorate: 40,086,677
turnout 63.9%
2016 EU referendum
votes for Leave: 17,410,742
vote share: 51.9%
electorate: 46,500,001
turnout: 72.2%
But the 1992 general election was a bigger democratic exercise than either referendum, attracting more votes and a higher turnout from a smaller electorate than in 2016.
1992 general election
votes cast: 33,614,074
turnout: 77.7%
electorate: 43,249,721
2016 referendum
votes cast: 33,551,983
turnout: 72.2%
electorate: 46,500,001
(I've taken the numbers from a variety of sources, from Wikipedia pages on the various votes to information assembled by the House of Commons library.)
