Written by Matt up North

 

 

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I was invited to the count at a local leisure centre. Around midnight there were two distinct groups circulating and everything was civilised and cordial. The Remainers were looking quite confident and riding high in the polls. The Brexiteers were more grave and full of nervous energy. I remember one of the Remain crowd looked familiar and we struck up a polite conversation. Turned out he was the head teacher of a large secondary school. In an off guard moment he started telling me about his place in Spain and how the healthcare out there is ‘far superior to our NHS’. I left him and escaped to observe the piles of voting slips. It was already looking very good for Leave in our little part of the world but we always expected to do well. We were getting lots of support on the doorstep. It was the rest of the country that worried us.

When the vote was announced I thought a Leave win was quite possible. Cameron was gambling. What I didn’t immediately expect was the overwhelming weight of the state and the resources available to the Remain Campaign. When the media, big business, most of our politicians, universities and academics all combine to support one view it is difficult for the ordinary voter to resist such arguments which carry so much authority. In the end enough voters did resist project fear. The Remain side cranked up the effects of leaving the EU to such preposterous levels of disaster they over played their hand. Nevertheless, a win for the Remain side would close off all hope of any political change of direction for the UK. One good reason to vote Leave was to avoid our inevitable slide into an impoverished region of the EU. (A vassal state! A term I only heard after the vote.)  I thought winning would be difficult but not impossible. The stakes were high and the consequences huge considering the promise: ‘The government will do what you decide’. Remember that? Who could forget?  There would not be a second referendum. Once in a lifetime, etc. Oh yes I wanted to get campaigning!

We went to Stoke to hear Nigel speak. Bone and Grayling were there. Afterwards there was an amazing scrum to shake hands with Nigel and get a selfie. Quite an astonishing sight for a political figure in Britain. I delivered leaflets for UKIP. I made my own leaflets and delivered them. I photocopied and laminated signs. We printed our own stickers. We made our own banners. We bought staple guns and carried them in our cars! I spent months looking out for suitable spots to display a sign or fix a banner. This became a battle of wits with an unseen foe. Some signs lasted for weeks. Others disappeared overnight. I drove past one sign for months after the vote and that one did make me smile. (We were very naïve activists unsure of electoral law.) We went to rallies. I managed to get to Bolton, Leeds and Peterborough. Great places to meet people, share ideas and collect leaflets, etc. I kept meeting lots of people just like me. Ordinary people that had similar views and had never been to a political meeting before. This happened a lot. (The victory speech next morning by Nigel with the comment about ‘victory for ordinary people, victory for decent people’ was an extraordinary choice of words.)

We were gathered round the television in the gym at the count. Early results looked good for Remain but then things started looking up. Results were closer than expected. Game on. I think it was Sunderland that silenced the Remain crowd. By about two-thirty the Remainers were already drifting off. We started piling up some votes. We cheered when Mogg came on because he wasn’t another Remainer. We patiently listened to the analysis from political experts slowly turning their minds on to the unexpected and unbelievable. It was not going to plan and we waited for news. About three-ish Leave took the lead but it was just a few thousand. Wow. Dare to dream. Could we do this?

Back in the hall they were still counting but Leave was way out in front. You could see votes sorted and banded up in different piles. Our area voted leave and won with 62 per cent but it was national total that mattered. Returning to the gym we watched the results surrounded by fitness equipment, we perched and leaned and hung on where we could by the light of the TV screen. The pound was now wobbling. The Remain MPs were already talking about referendums being decided by people voting on the wrong issues. Clearly they were struggling  to explain why only their supporters voted correctly whilst everyone else was not voting properly (Hilary Benn, etc). Then the BBC forecast Leave to win. We could read the screen but is it certain? We waited. Then the caption changed. The UK Votes to Leave and Dimbleby said it and it was on the news. ‘Good Morning. Britain has voted to Leave.’

I drove home in a bit of a daze. It was a beautiful sunny morning and I had to go to work. On the way to school I stopped at a shop for some party supplies. I bought two carrier bags of buns, biscuits, chocolates and treats ready for break. I quietly sneaked the bags into the classroom then looked in the staffroom. It was very quiet and serious. They were not happy. Someone said Cameron had resigned. I managed to say hello and not look too cheerful. At break I explained to Year 6 what had happened: ‘’Your parents voted yesterday and we should celebrate democracy. They voted to Leave the EU.’’ (Cheers)

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