First, the results: out of a total electorate of 152,823, the number of people who cast their vote was 90,343 or 59.1%; the number of "Yes" votes was 67,607 and "No" votes 20,177; the invalid votes amounted to 2,559. Although the percentage voting against was relatively low, the very high abstention rate meant that less than half of the total electorate (44.24%) actually voted in favour of integration.

The inconclusive referendum result clearly did little to assist the achievement of integration. It was further hampered by the growing concerns in the Conservative Party about the integration proposals. Although concerns were clearly growing in Conservative ranks, reservations about integration can however, be identified from the outset.

Assessing the merits and demerits of integration in April 1954, the Secretaries of State for the Colonies (Lyttelton) and the Home Department (Maxwell Fyfe) had commented that ‘such a system, which has some resemblance to the Union Francaise has the inherent defect that the Members elected from these territories soon lose touch and influence with their constituents and have little or nothing to contribute in the day to day life of Parliament at Westminster’.

The strongest arguments against integration, however, came from the Treasury, which fretted over the potential costs of the scheme. The Treasury estimated the costs of extending British social services and scales of expenditure to Malta at £10 million per annum, which in turn stimulated fears that other colonial territories would seek similarly favourable treatment.

It was speculated that once Malta’s right to representation at Westminster had been conceded, other smaller colonial territories would seek the same status. Attention was also called to the possibility that preferential treatment for Malta might prompt Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to request greater financial assistance, as well as revive demands for separate Scottish and Welsh parliaments.

These doubts and apprehensions ultimately led to the demise of integration, and the 1964 Referendum was effectively a referendum on independence.