Prime Minister David Cameron is to step down by October after the UK voted to leave the European Union.<\/p>\n
Mr Cameron made the announcement in a statement outside Downing Street after the final result was announced.<\/p>\n
He said he would attempt to “steady the ship” over the coming weeks and months.<\/p>\n
He had urged the country to vote Remain, warning of economic and security consequences of an exit, but Leave won by 52% to 48%.<\/p>\n
England and Wales voted strongly for Brexit, while London, Scotland and Northern Ireland backed staying in.<\/p>\n
UKIP leader Nigel Farage hailed it as the UK’s “independence day” but the Remain camp called it a “catastrophe”.<\/p>\n
The pound fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985 as the markets reacted to the results.<\/p>\n
The referendum turnout was 71.8% – with more than 30 million people voting – the highest turnout at a UK-wide vote since 1992.<\/p>\n
Wales and the majority of England outside London voted in large numbers for Brexit.<\/p>\n
Labour’s Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the Bank of England may have to intervene to shore up the pound, which lost 3% within moments of the first result showing a strong result for Leave in Sunderland and fell as much as 6.5% against the euro.<\/p>\n
‘Independence day’<\/strong><\/p>\n UKIP leader Nigel Farage – who has campaigned for the past 20 years for Britain to leave the EU – told cheering supporters “this will be a victory for ordinary people, for decent people”.<\/p>\n Mr Farage – who predicted a Remain win at the start of the night after polls suggested that would happen – said it would “go down in history as our independence day”.<\/p>\n He called on Prime Minister David Cameron, who called the referendum but campaigned passionately for a Remain vote, to quit “immediately”.<\/p>\n Prime Minister David Cameron is to step down by October after the UK voted to leave the European Union. Mr Cameron made the announcement in a statement outside Downing Street after the final result was announced. He said he would attempt to “steady the ship” over the coming weeks and months. He had urged the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":225091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107,11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"