London - Lord McAlpine is to succeed Sir James Goldsmith as leader of the Referendum Movement, it was confirmed yesterday. Lord McAlpine, the former Tory treasurer and deputy chairman, sensationally defected to Sir James's Referendum Party in 1996 and was chairman of both the Referendum Party and the Referendum Movement into which it evolved after the general election.
A spokesman said that following Sir James's death from cancer in Spain on Friday night, Lord McApline would now assume the leadership of the Movement as well.