As results come in from the UK’s historic referendum, early indications are that the vote on whether to leave or remain in the EU is too close to call.
As expected Gibraltar, the first area to declare a result, voted resoundingly in favour on staying in the EU, while Remain also won Newcastle-upon-Tyne – but the narrow margin of victory caused sterling to fall back.
Leave also notched up victories by a wider than expected margin in bellweather areas including Sunderland and Swindon.
As polls closed, a YouGov projection based on a survey of almost 5,000 people on polling day suggests Remain ahead, with 52% to Leave’s 48% – while bookies and financial markets appeared to be banking on the UK staying in the EU.
YouGov’s Joe Twyman said: “The results are close and it’s too early to call it definitively. But these results, along with the recent trends and historical precedent, suggest a Remain victory is the more likely outcome.”
As voting stations shut their doors at 10pm, there was a spike in the value of sterling and leading Leave campaigner Nigel Farage told Sky News: “It looks like Remain will edge it.”
Arriving at a Leave campaign party, Mr Farage said he was not conceding and blamed any possible defeat on the extension of the voter registration deadline after voting problems.
He added: “The Eurosceptic genie is out of the bottle – it will not be put back in…win or lose this battle tonight, we will win this war.”
Theresa Villiers from the official Leave campaign told Sky: “My instinct is that Remain have won.”
Boris Johnson tweeted: “The polls have now closed, democracy has been served + we await the verdict of the people. Thanks to everyone involved + everyone who voted.”
Mr Johnson is among 85 Eurosceptic Tory MPs – including every Cabinet minister who voted Leave – who have signed a letter pledging loyalty to David Cameron and urging him to continue as Prime Minister regardless of the result.
The Remain campaign’s Chuka Umunna told Sky News he was “reasonably confident” that Britain would be staying in the 28-member bloc.
Ben Page, chief exec of pollsters Ipsos Mori, tweeted that his firm’s research on Wednesday and Thursday pointed to a 54% to 46% lead for Remain.
However, the Leave.EU campaign group published results of a poll of 10,000 people suggesting a 52% to 48% lead for Leave – although the survey excluded those who said they were undecided.
Shortly after polls closed, the Prime Minister wrote on Facebook: “Thank you everyone who voted to keep Britain stronger, safer and better off in Europe – and to the thousands of Remain campaigners around the UK.”
Counting stopped in the Yorkshire and Humber region for a minute’s silence in memory of Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox – who was murdered in Birstall, West Yorkshire, in the final week of the campaign.
There were reports of long queues from early in the morning, with many people waiting patiently in heavy rain to cast their ballot.
Polling stations in some areas opened late or were forced to close altogether after torrential downpours caused flooding in parts of London and south-east England.
Kingston Council was forced to close two polling stations due to flooding, with voters instructed to cast their ballots at alternative locations.
One polling station in Dover experienced a power outage due to the storms, while voting at one location in Huddersfield was temporarily stopped after a man was stabbed nearby.
West Yorkshire Police closed the polling station for half an hour and a man was arrested – but officers said the incident was not linked to the referendum.
There is no exit poll to indicate how the country has voted – but phone polls in the campaign’s final days were calling it for Remain, while most online surveys suggested Leave would win the referendum.
A record number of voters – some 46.5 million – were eligible to take part in the referendum, according to figures from the Electoral Commission.
Counting has begun in the 382 voting areas across England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar, each of which will declare its own result.
The overall result for the whole of the UK will be announced in Manchester, likely on Friday morning, but only when all 382 areas have declared. – Skynet.
