24th June, 2016
Early results from Britain’s bitterly contested referendum showed a lead on Friday for supporters of leaving the European Union, contradicting opinion polls and prompting wild swings in the value of the pound.
With results in from the first 13 of 382 voting districts, those in favor of ending Britain’s 43-year membership were on 52.4 percent of the vote, while those wanting to stay were on 47.6 percent.
But it was too early to establish a firm trend in a contest that remained too close to call. Opinion surveys pointed to a vote to Remain, and two prominent anti-EU campaigners said they expected to lose.
Early results, according to Mail Online, are showing a different decision by voters, at least in England.
Sunderland recorded a massive 61 per cent to 39 per cent win for Leave – 82,394 votes to 51,930 – shocking the Remain side which had been voicing confidence about its prospects for victory overall.
It was swiftly followed by Swindon which voted out by 10,525 votes – 61,745 to 51,220, although Leave had expected to win by a greater margin.
Conversely, Broxbourne voted Leave with more votes than predicted – 33,706 to 17,166.
After results in 15 counting areas out of 382, Remain was on 48.5% and Leave on 51.5% in England.
The BBC reported however that Scotland voters are identifying with the Remain Camp, in results declared so far.
Orkney declared its result at about 00:05, with Remain winning 7,189 votes (63%) and Leave on 4,193 (37%). Turnout was 68.4%.
It was followed by Clackmannanshire, which backed Remain by 58% to 42%.
Dundee, Shetland and West Dunbartonshire also voted in favour of Remain, as did the Western Isles.
In East Ayrshire, Remain won 33,891 (59%) votes to Leave’s 23,942 (41%), while in Midlothian it was 28,217 (62%) for Remain and 17,251 (38%) for Leave.
Labour sources said it expected bigger wins for Remain in some areas than people had predicted, but they would be offset by bigger victories for Brexit in other areas.
The Pound – which soared in value earlier after Nigel Farage admitted he thought Brexit had lost – immediately nose-dived by nearly 3 per cent against the US dollar.
The Ukip leader made the extraordinary statement as voting came to a close at 10pm, but 90 minutes later he qualified his statement by adding that if Remain win it is because of the two million extra voters who were allowed to register late. Mr Farage said he ‘hoped and prayed’ his sense of defeat was wrong.
The official turnout will be declared at 7am but the Press Association’s referendum results team reports 14 turnouts so far. Leaving aside Gibraltar on 84%, the highest so far is 79% in Christchurch in Dorset, with the lowest 63% in Dundee.
Government minister Theresa Villiers, who also campaigned for Britain to leave, told Sky her instinct was that the Remain side had won.
Prime Minister David Cameron had urged Britons to vote Remain, warning that the alternative was a leap in the dark that would hurt trade and investment, bring about a self-inflicted recession, undermine the pound and push up shopping bills and the cost of holidays.
Advocates of going it alone said a ‘Brexit’ would invigorate the economy by freeing business from suffocating EU bureaucracy, and allow the country to recover its sovereignty and regain control of immigration.
Britain’s 27 EU partners are anxiously watching the vote, fearing the departure of the bloc’s second biggest economy would weaken Europe’s global clout and fuel the rise of eurosceptic movements in other countries.
Ralph Brinkhaus, a senior ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, told Reuters: “The released polls show the expected neck-and-neck race. It will remain exciting until the early morning hours. I hope that the British have decided against a Brexit.”
*Mail Online and Reuters