A YouGov projection based on a survey of nearly 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 United Kingdom staying in the EU.
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The British territory of Gibraltar was first to provide an official tally, confirming just after 3:30 PM Pacific that it had voted to remain within the EU.
The Ukip leader said he was “daring to dream” of victory as Leave established a lead of several hundred thousand votes. “That’s simply extraordinary, and a vote to leave provides an existential crisis for Europe”, he said.
Brexit was celebrating after Sunderland had a Leave majority of a whopping 61.34% in the north east.
Britons vote on Thursday to decide whether to quit the bloc they joined in 1973, a choice with far-reaching economic and political consequences for Britain and the whole of Europe.
Unlike at a General Election the results in individual areas do not count as it is the overall number of votes cast for one side or the other across the country that will determine the outcome.
Brisk voting marked polling day yesterday as the results remained too close to call till the very last minute.
Volatile trading saw the pound break through the 1.5 dollar mark, its strongest performance since December 2015, after Nigel Farage appeared to concede defeat in the face of a YouGov poll and City analysis showing a lead for Remain.
Campaigning had been suspended for three days after the killing of Jo Cox, a lawmaker and passionate advocate for Remain, led to soul searching about the campaign and its tone.
Polls close at 10 p.m., but the future of Britain’s relationship with the European Union will come in during a frantic three-hour period on Friday, between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m.
Remain had 94 per cent chance of victory according to trading on Betfair just before the polls closed at 10pm.
As Brexit campaigners in Sunderland erupted into cheers, jitters hit the currency market, sending the pound to 1.43 dollars – reportedly its biggest drop since the 2008 crash.
If “leave” wins, he may have no choice but to resign.
“I think it is going to be really close”, said photographer Antony Crolla, 49, outside a London polling station.
“If David Cameron can remain as Prime Minister for the next few months then he will push for a trigger of article 50, which will start the process of leaving the European Union immediately”.
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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.
