Final surveys show United Kingdom to stay with the EU — BREXIT
“With a race as close as this, the turnout level. will be critical”, said Luke Taylor of TNS.
Some local politicians Tweeted their reactions to the result. The opportunity was especially good after early results came in that indicated a strong chance of a “Leave” victory, but currency and betting markets were slower to react and still had “Leave” as an underdog. The final results indicated that 51.9% of votes were for “Leave”, which is a almost 4% margin of victory.
Labour MSP for North East Scotland, Jenny Marra, also said she was pleased with the Dundee result, but warned that the continuing question of constitutional change was deflecting from issues voters were concerned about.
There has only been one other UK-wide referendum on the issue of EU membership, in 1975 when the country voted to stay in the European Community. Opinion surveys pointed to a vote to Remain, and two prominent anti-EU campaigners said they expected to lose.
The registered voters include Britons from England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar. The pound traded 1.4849 against the dollar in Asian trading hours before scaling back some of the gains.
The most recent polls had suggested “remain” had a narrow lead.
To take note of, in a research note sent to clients early on Thursday evening Samuel Tombs, chief United Kingdom economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, cautioned that while YouGov’s re-contact poll showed a high degree of accuracy in Scotland’s referendum, “YouGov’s poll will be only as accurate as the sample of voters it originally obtained for its polls”.
Earlier Thursday, the firm had released a poll that indicated a 52-48 victory for “remain”.
“Newcastle was a squeaky win for Remain but Sunderland was a huge kick in the ribs and the bottom has fallen out of the pound”, said Jeremy Cook, chief economist at global payments company, World First.
The turnaround since polls have closed has been even more dramatic.
There as elsewhere, turnout appeared high. But high turnout in working-class areas that typically have lower tallies could also boost the “leave” vote.
BBC interviewed a man about voting to leave, he said “I’m shocked that we voted for Leave, I didn’t think that was going to happen”.
According to the organisation, there is nothing to distinguish the two sides, with both receiving 50% of the vote. Thursday’s results showed that 61 percent of Sunderland voters favored Brexit against 39 percent to remain in the European Union.
The picture is still far too incomplete to say with certainty which way the vote has gone. And for some, it was further reason for Scotland to align itself with the European Union rather than Britain.
As the Huffington Post noted, the poll was a strong sign for Remain.
However, there was a fear that thunderstorms and torrential downpours in London and the south east of England may deter voters. London’s Fire Brigade took 550 weather-related calls as the capital was hit by heavy precipitation, thunderstorms and lightning strikes. Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican Party committed to the reunification of Ireland, has called for a referendum on a united Ireland, after slamming English voters for “dragging Northern Ireland out of the European Union”. Either way, whether I am right or wrong, if we do stay part of this union it is doomed, it is finished anyway.