Helmut Kohl Quotes

No, a euro referendum will not be part of a government programme if we get the chance to form one.

It is difficult to understand these people who democratically take part in elections and a referendum, but are then incapable of democratically accepting the will of the people.

I never felt comfortable with making political decisions based on whether, you know, it was the right thing to do in terms of a poll.

It's not too late to stop the Lisbon Treaty.

There were a number of referendums in '98 that most of the things I voted for passed. That's very satisfying when you feel that most of the country is in step with your views.

As long as we're in a democracy, I have to give what I think the majority of people will enjoy.

If we had a consensus we wouldn't have to go to a referendum.

The public will vote if they have something important to vote for or against.

I'd rather be underestimated by the polltakers than by the voters.

The British people don’t want me anymore.

I have been defeated for election often enough to know that the majority can be wrong.

I am a politician and must gamble with the future.

Every single election in every country has a component of a referendum in it.

I have never seen a poll elect anyone

No politician is any longer interested in the question whether a measure is fit to produce the ends aimed at. What alone counts for him is whether the majority of the voters favor or reject it.

Polls are contradictory when the public opinion is such.

Polls are for strippers and cross-country skiers.

Primaries are the place where you see whose message is connecting with the largest number of people.

When we vote to leave, I think a majority of people in Scotland will also vote to leave as well.

Remember, I'm the guy who didn't want the referendum - I wouldn't have had it if I'd been prime minister. But you have to respect how people voted because this was partly about political alienation, so if the response to political alienation is to ignore it, that's a recipe for more political alienation.

You have to be ready for anything. It's a good reminder about democracy. Voters can tell you to carry on, or chuck you out. You've got to be ready for both.

I do think you need to listen to the voters.

The U.K. voted for Brexit and a lot of weak-willed, lily-livered people will say 'yeah but the people did not know what they were voting for, they had no idea of what this was going to entail.' Those are the people who are saying 'lets get a second referendum, let's make the people aware this time that there is, in fact, a lot more to this.'

I hope that 'Remain' will carry the day, just on the grounds of common sense.

My preoccupation has been from the very beginning that I believe that the "Brexit" referendum result is the most disastrous peacetime result that we've seen in Britain.