Leave 17,410,742 Valid votes 33,551,983 Location United Kingdom | Remain 16,141,241 Start date June 23, 2016 | |
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17,410,742 7001518900000000000♠51.89% 16,141,241 7001481100000000000♠48.11% 33,551,983 7001999200000000000♠99.92% | ||
The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, also known as the EU referendum, took place in the United Kingdom and Gibraltar on 23 June 2016. Membership of the European Union has been a topic of debate in the United Kingdom since the country joined the European Economic Community (the Common Market), as it was known then, in 1973.
Contents
- United Kingdom
- Returns from United Kingdom major cities
- England
- East Midlands
- East of England
- Greater London
- North East England
- North West England
- South East England
- South West England together with Gibraltar
- Gibraltar
- West Midlands
- Yorkshire and the Humber
- Northern Ireland
- Scotland
- Wales
- Result by constituency
- Most Leave areas
- Most Remain areas
- Most evenly divided areas
- References
The referendum was conducted very differently to the European Communities membership referendum in 1975 with a different counting procedure and was also overseen by the Electoral Commission, a public body which did not exist at the time of the first vote.
This article lists, by voting area, all the results of the referendum, each ordered into national and regional sections.
Under the provisions of the European Union Referendum Act 2015 there were a total of 382 voting areas across twelve regions using the same boundaries as used in European Parliamentary elections since 1999 under the provisions of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 with votes counted at local authority level: in England the 326 local government districts were used as the voting areas; these consist of all unitary authorities, all metropolitan boroughs, all shire districts, the London boroughs, the City of London and the Isles of Scilly. The nine regions of England were then also used to count the votes at the regional level with Gibraltar being a part of South West England. Northern Ireland was a single voting area, as well as being a regional count although local totals by Westminster parliamentary constituency area were announced. In Scotland the 32 Scottish councils were used as voting areas and a single national count. In Wales the 22 Welsh Councils were used as the voting areas and a single national count.
Counting began as soon as the polls closed on June 23 from 2200 BST onwards making it the first UK-wide referendum to be counted overnight and took nine hours and twenty minutes to complete.
On 23 June 2016 the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, by 51.9% for Leave, and 48.1% for the Remain campaign with 263 voting areas voting to "Leave the European Union" to 119 voting areas who voted to "Remain a member of the European Union".
United Kingdom
The final result of the referendum for the United Kingdom and Gibraltar was declared at Manchester Town Hall at 0720 BST on Friday 24 June 2016 after all the 382 voting areas and the twelve UK regions had declared their results by the "Chief counting officer" (CCO) for the referendum, Jenny Watson. In a UK-wide referendum, the position of "Chief counting officer" (CCO) is held by the chair of the Electoral Commission. The following figures are as reported by the Electoral Commission.
With a national turnout of 72% the target to secure the majority win for the winning side was 16,788,672 votes. The decision by the electorate was to "Leave the European Union" which won by a majority of 1,269,501 votes (3.9%) over those who had voted in favour of "Remain a member of the European Union" with England and Wales voting to "Leave" whilst Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to "Remain".
Returns from United Kingdom major cities
Out of over 33.5 million valid votes cast across the United Kingdom, over 8.8 million, or just over one quarter, were cast in thirty major cities that each gathered 100,000 votes or more.
In those 30 cities, votes to Remain outnumbered those to Leave by over 900,000 (4,872,810 to 3,955,595 or 55.2% to 44.8%), while in the other voting areas, the votes to Leave outnumbered those to Remain by nearly 2.2 million (13,455,147 to 11,268,431, or 54.4% to 45.6%).
England
Unlike the other constituent countries of the United Kingdom there was no centralised national count of the votes in England as counting was divided into nine regional count areas which were the same areas as used for the European Parliamentary Elections. It should also be noted that figures from Gibraltar are also included.
East Midlands
The East Midlands region was broken down into 40 voting areas.
East of England
The East of England region was broken down into 47 voting areas.
Greater London
The Greater London region was broken down into the 33 London boroughs which were the voting areas.
North East England
The North East England region was broken down into 12 voting areas.
North West England
The North West England region was broken down into 39 voting areas.
South East England
The South East England region was broken down into 67 voting areas.
South West England (together with Gibraltar)
The South West England region was broken down into 38 voting areas.
Gibraltar
For the purposes of this referendum and as has been the case with European Parliamentary elections, the overseas territory of Gibraltar is a single voting area placed in the South West England constituency. It is the first time the territory has taken part in any UK-wide referendum as they did not participate in either the original 1975 EC Referendum or the 2011 AV Referendum as Gibraltar does not send any Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in Westminster.
West Midlands
The West Midlands region was broken down into 30 voting areas.
Yorkshire and the Humber
The Yorkshire and the Humber region was broken down into 21 voting areas.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland was a single voting area, as well as being a regional count although local totals were announced in each of the 18 UK Westminister Parliamentary constituency areas within Northern Ireland but did not constitute as voting areas.
Scotland
Scotland's voting areas were broken down into the 32 Scottish councils.
Whilst all council counting areas show a majority for Remain one constituency, Banff and Buchan, voted to Leave the European Union at the 2016 European Union membership referendum on an estimated margin of 54% Leave 46% Remain. This constituency was also reported to have voted in favour of Scottish independence at the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. The Leave vote in the area was concentrated around the north coast of Aberdeenshire between the fishing towns of Banff and Peterhead, where there were 23,707 Leave votes to 14,918 Remain votes (61% Leave 39% Remain).
The areas of Whalsay and South Unst in the Shetland Islands and An Taobh Siar agus Nis in the Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Western Isles) also voted by a majority for Leave, as did the town of Lossiemouth in Moray.
Wales
The voting areas in Wales were broken down into the 22 Welsh councils.
Result by constituency
The EU referendum vote was not counted by Parliamentary constituencies. However a number of Local Councils and Districts have released the referendum result by electoral ward or constituency. Moreover, several constituency boundaries are co-terminous with their local government district. Northern Ireland also counted their votes by Westminster parliamentary constituency. The following figures show the EU referendum vote by constituency.
Most Leave areas
The following were the ten voting areas that voted most heavily in favour of leave. All but one of them came from the East Midlands and East of England regions with four voting areas out of the top ten including both the top two coming from Lincolnshire.
Most Remain areas
The following were the ten voting areas that voted most heavily in favour of remain. All but three of them came from the Greater London region.
Most evenly divided areas
The narrowest margin of victory for any of the 382 voting areas in the United Kingdom was the Scottish council of Moray which voted by just 122 votes or 0.25% margin in favour of "Remain".
In England the narrowest margin of victory for leave was in Watford which voted by just 252 votes or 0.54% margin in favour of "Leave" and in Cherwell which also voted by just 500 votes or 0.61% margin in favour of "Leave" and the narrowest margin of victory for remain was the London Borough of Bromley which voted by just 2,364 votes or a 1.30% margin in favour of "Remain".