Brexit: The Lowdown.

So last night the polls closed at 10pm and we joined David Dimbleby on BBC1 anxiously waiting to hear the results of the biggest democratic vote in recent history.

The first two hours consisted of pure speculation and analysis of who was predicted to vote what. Ian Duncan Smith was one of the fist to chime in to the debate explaining how this was the biggest ‘council estate’ turn out he had seen and this may effect the vote. Typically those living in these less lucrative areas were predicted to vote leave. With fear of stereotyping, I generally agree with this point. Those who are living in the poorer areas, those who are struggling to get jobs have been almost brainwashed by the likes of Nigel Farage as to why the hunt for a job is difficult. We fundamentally cannot base all our problems on immigration, but it appears that is what we have done.

An extremely good point was made before the results were announced – there could be a sense of envy in the EU. No matter the result, the fact is we were the country to secure a reform deal, we were the country to run a referendum; we almost got a leg up on others in the EU. A vote to remain may have sparked the need for reform within other member states. I guess now we’ll never know.

Unlike the general election, there was no exit poll. This is because the methodology used to create an exit poll relies on the results of previous elections. Because of this, there is no previous data to go on, there are no seats, there is no marginal wins. Every vote counts. What we did have was the last YouGov poll which stated 52% would vote remain and 48% leave. YouGov were wrong at the general election and they were wrong again…

After the final poll was released the pound soared, reaching its strongest point in 30 years. We woke up to a largely different story this morning with the pound dropping to its lowest since 1985.

Another issue that was promptly approached was what this means for the UK on a whole. Scotland were predicted to vote to remain, which they did. This prompted the question of if we do leave, will Scotland push for another referendum? The answer to this is yes, and the result will most likely be that they will leave. Rightly so in my opinion.

More analysis followed focusing on what local authorities were predicted to vote. Age, culture and votes cast in last years election was what built this picture for us. Most likely to vote out was the area of Boston in Lincolnshire and they did indeed have 75% vote to leave. The area of Basildon, a very UKIP heavy authority, were also predicted to vote leave and 68% did so.

The first sign of it all going wrong came when Newcastle’s results came in. Newcastle were predicted to be a heavy remain area due to the student culture and the fact it is a relatively prosperous city. The results were worryingly close – 50.7% voted remain and 49.3% voted leave. As the results came in it was clear this was going to be a tight race.

Indeed it was, we woke to the disheartening and saddening result that was 52% of the UK had voted to leave the EU. This was swiftly followed by news of the pound dropping and David Cameron resigning. I’m still very much in shock.

Why have we voted leave and supported Nigel Farage’s torrent of hate towards anybody who isn’t British? I am not going to sit here and accuse all those of voting leave of being racist however I haven’t heard a single person who voted leave give any other reason immigration. We have moved backwards.

With David Cameron’s resignation it is clear the face of British politics will be changing. Jeremy Corbyn has, frankly, embarrassed himself. His ‘campaigning’ left a lot to be desired and by him, yet again, failing to bring together and represent the Labour party has resulted in Nigel Farage being one of the biggest political figureheads around. Yes, this is Farage’s fight but he doesn’t even hold a seat in Westminster yet here he is parading around knowing he may have lost the battle but he certainly won the war. His smug, vile beak is still resonating with people and I feel like this is where political education really needs to improve.

We need facts, not lies and we need them from an unbias perspective. In my opinion, politics should be a compulsory subject.

Whoever takes over from David Cameron is going to have a massive task ahead of them. You know things are bad when you’re not happy that Davey C’s reign has come to an end. I’m actually disappointed and fearful of who will follow. Although I had reasonable support for Boris as London Mayor, I can’t imagine a world where he is taken seriously as leader of this country. David Cameron made a stance today by resigning – this isn’t the country he wanted to run. The tactic’s used to get into government in 2015 have come back to haunt him. If he had stuck to his guns and said he wanted to remain in a reformed Europe we would have gone crazy because he hasn’t listen to us wanting a referendum. He hosts a referendum and we leave. This goes against his beliefs and therefore I think he did make the right decision stepping down.

Those declaring this a glorious day; you are wrong. I hate to quote Piers Morgan but the only certainty really is uncertainty. This is a day to be fearful. I am disappointed in the country I adore. We have no entered a period of change, a period of worrying change and I am saddened for my generation. However, it’s great to see how many young people are getting involved in politics and are determined to have their voices heard. We live in a democracy and we have to respect the result.