Guide to EU referendum: When do polls close? When will we know the result?
Everything you need to know about the EU referendum vote on June 23
THERE are just two days to go until Brits vote in what has been billed as the “biggest political decision of our lives”.
David Cameron has suggested he would prefer a Labour government to a vote to Leave the EU, while Boris Johnson has called it the “last chance in your life to vote for change”.
The stakes could not be higher.
So when will you know which way the country has voted?
Here’s what you need to know:
What are we voting on?
Our membership of the European Union. The official question on the ballot paper is:
“Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?”
The two options are:
- Remain a member of the European Union
- Leave the European Union
When is the vote?
The 41,000 polling stations across the UK (and Gibraltar) open from 7am and close at 10pm on Thursday June 23. Some voters will choose to cast their vote by post or by proxy.
How is the vote counted?
The votes will be taken to 382 local counting centres across the country.
Each local result will be declared individually throughout the night, giving pundits a steer on which way the public has voted and something to talk about as coverage runs well into the next day.
The totals will be collated at 12 regional centres with the final result set to be announced at Manchester town hall by a chief counting officer some time on Friday.
How long does the count take?
The 2015 general election count took almost 19 hours and the last seat to declare was St Ives in Cornwall at 4.50pm the following day. At Britain’s last referendum on voting reform in 2011, the final result was declared 27 hours after the polls closed.
But in both cases the result was known hours in advance.
This time round there should be a fairly clear picture of the result at around 4am when most of the 382 local results will have been declared.
When do the first results come in?
Oddly Sunderland are always keen to cross the finish line first and reckon they’ll have a result at 12.30am, quickly followed by the City of London at 12.45am.
Newcastle, St Helens, Sutton, Thurrock and Wandsworth among others should follow suit soon after.
According to their own estimations Arun, Cheshire East and Waveney in Suffolk, where Boris Johnson was recently snapped filleting a salmon, are set to be the last to announce their result at 7am.
Perhaps BoJo will have bigger fish to fry come June 24…
What happens next?
Well if we vote to stay in the EU: Armageddon, a plague of locusts and the UK sinking into the sea.
And if we Leave? More of the same – if either side’s predictions are to be believed.
In reality if the UK votes to stay in the EU, David Cameron stays on as PM with an almighty fight on his hands to mend a party whose members have been at each other’s throats for the past few months.
A possible cabinet reshuffle could follow to get rid of lesser known disloyal cabinet members and if rumours are to be believed a big job for BoJo to appease his supporters.
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If it’s a close defeat for Leave, Nigel Farage will undoubtedly call for another referendum as there would be “unfinished business”. This will in all likelihood will be dismissed out of hand.
And if Brits back Brexit? As some leading Leavers have conceded – they just don’t know.
Most senior Brexiteers have urged the PM to stay on in the short-term for “stability” and possibly to force him to go back to European leaders, who he begged for concessions when he wanted reforms, to negotiate an exit.
And after that you can sit back and watch BoJo, George Osborne and any other willing contenders battle it out for the soul of the Conservative party.