“A splendid weapon for demagogues and dictators” is how Margaret Thatcher described referenda in a House of Commons speech, shortly after becoming leader of the Conservative Party. Thirty years earlier, Clement Attlee had referred to them as “an instrument of Nazism and fascism.”

These claims are not baseless. In 1929, Benito Mussolini used a referendum to confirm a fascist single-party list in Italy, while in 1933 Adolf Hitler granted himself the power to hold referenda – a move which led to Germany’s departure from the League of Nations, Hitler’s ability to combine the roles of Chancellor and President, and ultimately single-party rule in Nazi Germany.