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European Union referendum polling day – as it happened

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Polls close

The polls are closing now following a campaign which many believe was the most divisive in British politics.

On election nights, it’s usually at this time that broadcasters put out their exit polls and make their projection for the night ahead.

There is no such exit poll this time however, although some financial institutions are said to have commissioned private exit polls which they are likely to keep to themselves. Here’s your guide on how the night is expected to play out.

Now, turn over to Andrew Sparrow’s referendum night blog, which has just launched.

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Ben Quinn
Ben Quinn

We’re getting some reports around the country of people who say that they have been turned away from election booths.

They include people who turned up, polling card in hand, only to be told that their name was not on a list.

It’s hard to gauge at this stage how extensive those problems might have been but I’ll try to look into a few of those later.

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Has Boris Johnson conceded defeat even before the polling stations close or is this a little bit of mischief?

Lewis Iwu, a Londoner, says that he bumped into the MP on the underground a little earlier and was asked if he voted leave.

Iwu said no and suggested that Johnson had also conceded defeat.

Just been asked on tube by @BorisJohnson if I voted leave. I say no. He concedes He's lost anyway. Awkward #EUref pic.twitter.com/sAGcNevw3l

— Lewis Iwu (@lewisiwu) June 23, 2016

Ever the attention grabber, live pictures are also now coming in of Johnson leaving his vote until almost the last minute.

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We’re into the last half an hour of voting. Traditionally there’s a bit of a rush in some places. Let’s see ...

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As any veteran of election/referendum all-nighters knows, it’s crucial to have a ready supply of unhealthy sugary drinks and snacks close to hand. Bit worried about Robert Peston’s paltry stock at ITV at this stage ...

The referendum M&Ms are out and on the table - @tombradby has 2 packs down by his feet all night, @Peston tucking in pic.twitter.com/mim2IO2vPt

— Allegra Stratton (@ITVAllegra) June 23, 2016
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Nick Fletcher
Nick Fletcher

Global stock markets have been climbing sharply today as investors took the view that the UK was increasingly unlikely to vote to leave the European Union, reports the Guardian’s Nick Fletcher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has just closed 1.29% higher, with banking shares among the main gainers. Earlier in London the FTSE 100 finished 1.23% higher, while the pound is currently up 1% at $1.4875.

But the recent rally could be dramatically reversed if the leave campaign does end up winning the day.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at City firm CMC Markets, said: “The FTSE 100 has gained nearly 7% in the last seven days while the pound has rebounded from lows of 1.4010 to peak earlier today at 1.4950 and post its highest levels this year, as the polls continue to improve in favour of remain.

“This suggests that a good part of this remain bounce could well be largely priced in already and if we get some early results in the early hours of the morning pointing to a move back to the leave camp then sterling could drop back sharply, potentially dragging stock markets down too.”

Traders and financial professionals on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as the UK went to the polls. Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
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Sam Jones

Away from the torrential rain in some parts of Britain, the possibility of Brexit has been very much on the minds of Britons in sunny southern Spain. A sleepless night beckons for some, it seems.

The Guardian’s Sam Jones has been canvassing opinion in Orihuela Costa, the largest British enclave in Spain:

Early evening found Colin Lindgren nursing an al fresco pint at the Emerald Isle club and reflecting on his paradoxical feelings about Brexit.

Like many of the expats who have made homes here, the retired 75-year-old, originally from Bedfordshire, would hate to give up the life of sunshine he and his wife have enjoyed for 14 years.

If he’d got round to getting his postal vote in on time, he would have opted to remain. Yet if he were still in England, he would have voted to leave the EU.

“I don’t like the way we were conned into it as the man on the street,” he said. “When we first went into it, it was a trading deal. It’s just escalated and the whole thing has got totally out of hand.”

There is however, little to tempt him back to the UK – and it’s not just the excellent Spanish healthcare, the bowls and the sense of community in Alicante province.

“We couldn’t afford to go back now,” he said. “If we had to, it would be very expensive. The cost of living here is lower and it’s a very sensible life.”

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Academic researchers have concluded that 61.6% of young voters intended to vote to remain in the EU.

That’s a survey – the details have just come – by Oxford and University of Manchester researchers who worked with the data firm RIWI to run the survey from the beginning of March up to June. Partial responses came from 7,444 people under the age of 40.

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A last email push is being made by both sides.

One which has arrived from Boris Johnson says:

Polls close in 90 minutes, so obviously we don’t have time for long emails. If you have voted leave, thank you.

If you haven’t yet, please do. And please email, text or phone all your friends to Vote Leave.

Don’t lose this chance to make today our Independence Day!!!

Thank you so much.

It ends with “Sent from my iPhone” because of course he’s been busy tapping that out in the last while.

Another, from Labour, says:

It looks like there could be a record number of people at the polls today, showing just how historic an event and how important this decision is to all of us.

If you haven’t voted yet — don’t miss out on being a part of it.

There’s still plenty of time, polls are open until 10pm.

It comes with a link to a Labour gizmo designed to help voters find their polling station.

Hannah Ellis-Petersen
Hannah Ellis-Petersen

A dispatch comes in from Glastonbury, where the Guardian’s Hannah Ellis-Petersen says that there’s general agreement that the “Glastonbury bubble” is a welcome break from the political bickering. That said:

Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis may have had no qualms about loudly declaring their voting intentions in the EU referendum, but the once-in-a-generation poll proved more divisive among the 180,000 festivalgoers who arrived in the last 24 hours.

Eavis was not allowed to have a polling station on site but had repeatedly urged people coming on Thursday or before to arrange either a postal or proxy vote – advice it seems many followed.

The Fleming family, who had travelled from Chesterfield for their first Glastonbury together, were divided on the issue. Parents Tim and Jane, 51, both favoured Brexit, but their daughter Holly, 20, took the opposite view.

“It just isn’t that bad in the EU and we’re going to be the generation where if it goes tits up, we’ll have to sort it out,” she said.

Susan Hardisty, 60, who was also at Glastonbury for the first time, said the referendum was “one of the most important votes of our generation, more important than the general election”.

She added: “We have kids in their 20s and I think the world will be a lot easier for them if we are part of the EU. And the thought of retracting into an isolated little Britain just scares the life out of me.”

Patrick Irish, from Gloucestershire, dresses as a ballot box at Glastonbury. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA
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A council in an area where a polling booth was temporarily closed after a man was stabbed nearby has been using Twitter to let voters know that it’s open again.

The polling station at Waverley Road, Hudds, has now reopened. Anyone who could not vote in the 30 minute closure can return up to 10pm

— Kirklees Council (@KirkleesCouncil) June 23, 2016

A 19-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident in Huddersfield, which West Yorkshire police said was not linked to the EU referendum.

The man was found collapsed with a stab wound in the Waverley Road area of the town at 5.15pm. Frances Perraudin had some more details earlier.

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