PM barely stumbled over the line in his own constituency with a majority of 5,000
David Cameron failed to persuade British voters to back the Remain campaign
DEFEATED David Cameron barely managed to secure a win in his own constituency - as Brits overwhelmingly backed Brexit in an historic referendum.
An impressive 79.72% turned out to vote in the Prime Minister's district of Witney - but he only just scraped a 5,000-vote lead after failing to convince more than 30,000 people in West Oxfordshire that Great Britain should remain part of the EU.
Just hours after the shock result that Britain will leave the European Union, Cameron announced he is resigning as Prime Minister.
The Tory leader said he would be leaving No.10 after six years following the historic decision.
He revealed in an emotional statement outside Downing Street he wanted a new leader to be in place by this autumn’s Conservative conference.
He said: "I do not think it would be right for me to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination.
"I love this country and I feel honoured to have served it and I will do everything I can in future to help this great country succeed."
The final result saw 17,759,184 Brits vote to leave, while 16,580,508 backed remain.
Only Scotland, Northern Ireland and inner city areas of London and Manchester voted by large majorities to Remain.
Huge swathes of northern England, the East coast, the Midlands and Wales, plus rural areas across the south, all backed Out.
A series of North East constituencies in particular left their Labour MPs reeling, having defied their pleas to back Remain.
Who backed Brexit? The top ten places where Leave had the strongest backing
More than 90 % of the results have been reported. These are the areas that voted most in favour of leave or remain:
Top 10 leave
Boston – 75.6%
South Holland – 73.6%
Castle Point – 72.7%
Thurrock – 72.3%
Great Yarmouth – 71.5%
Fenland – 71.4%
Mansfield – 70.9%
Bolsover – 70.8%
North East Lincolnshire – 69.9%
Ashfield – 69.8%
Top 10 remain
Gibraltar – 95.9%
Lambeth – 78.6%
Hackney – 78.5%
Haringey – 75.6%
City of London – 75.3%
Islington – 75.2%
Wandsworth – 75.0%
Camden – 74.9%
Edinburgh – 74.4%
East Renfrewshire – 74.3%
Before the PM's resignation, former Business Secretary Sir Vince said the PM’s position was “perilous” as the results swung towards Brexit, while Ukip’s Nigel Farage said Cameron should resign “immediately”.
The PM is expected to make a statement later this morning in which he will make his position clear, but rumours were circulating this morning that he is at least considering standing down.
Some Brexit-backing Tory MPs have previously called for him to stay on, at least for a period of “stability” as the UK negotiates its withdrawal with the EU.
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Former leadership contender and Brexiteer David Davis poured cold water on the calls for Cameron's resignation, saying "we don't need more disruption" while the UK negotiates its exit.
He added he believes Mr Cameron will remain in post "for the next few years".
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond this morning said voters have "spoken clearly" and Government's job is to "get on with that decision".
Senior Leave campaigner Liam Fox had called for the PM to stay on, saying "we don't need political instability into the mix".
Angry voters in the North revolted in huge numbers against the Westminster elite to back Leave in the EU Referendum yesterday.
A series of shock votes to take the UK Out across Labour’s traditional heartlands in the early hours of this morning stunned experts.
But as Britain raced towards a Brexit, the pound plunged to its lowest point against the dollar since 1985.
Japanese markets closed after falling 1,000 points. They reopened after the automatic 10-minute shutdown.
The Japanese trade minister said the country would be watching closely for the impacts of Brexit on the Japanese economy.
The Bank of England could be forced to unleash a string of emergency measures to calm the markets and prevent a major crash, with Governor Mark Carney set to make a statement later this morning.
Lib Dem former Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “We probably will have a bloodbath on the financial markets.”
However, elated Nigel Farage says the dawn is breaking on an independent United Kingdom.
He said: ‘This will go down in history as our independence day.”
He told supporters: "This is a victory for real people, a victory for ordinary people, a victory for decent people.
"We have fought against the multinationals, we have fought against the big merchant banks, we have fought against big politics, we have fought against lies, corruption and deceit.
"And today honesty, decency and belief in nation, I think now is going to win.
"And we will have done it without having to fight, without a single bullet being fired, we'd have done it by damned hard work on the ground."
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