Daventry's politicians react to Brexit vote and Cameron resigning

Conservative leader of Daventry District Council Chris Millar said: “The result is the result.

“There has been lots of worries about what would happen if we went down this route.

“I thought it would be a tight thing. But it looked like it was leaning towards remain.

“I am happy we had a high turn out as that is good for democracy and it means there’s no question over the outcome.

“But there is now lots of uncertainty. I hope that uncertainty doesn’t continue for long.

“What needs to happen now is that we need to calm everything down.

“It’s really hard to say what the impact would be on the Daventry area.

“The one thing we know is that it will affect the whole country and every person.

“The result – 52 leave, 48 remain – gives a fairly clear majority.

“What needs to happen now is that the Government takes steps to resolve the uncertainty.

“The fact that David Cameron quickly acted and resigned removes that area of uncertainty.

“We will be electing a new leader of the Conservative Party in October – but we will not just be electing a party leader, we will be choosing the new prime minister.

“I think party members will be bear that in mind and make a careful decision about the new leader. It will be the first time since Margaret Thatcher leaving that we will be picking the new prime minister, rather than just selecting the leader of the opposition.

“It will only be when that new prime minister is in place that the actual process of withdrawing from the EU will begin.

“It’s very interesting times and there will be lots to come for the country.”

Cllr Wendy Randall, leader of the opposition Labour group on DDC and who campaigned for the remain camp, said: “I can’t believe the result.

“I wasn’t surprised Daventry district voted to leave. But I think the fact it was far closer that the general election was good.

“It’s hard to say what will happen now. I think it really depends on the strength of the pound.

“I’m trying to understand why people voted leave, and lots of people mention immigration as a big factor – but we’re hardly swamped in Northamptonshire.

“I don’t know what to say about it all. I am fearful about what the future may hold, but I also hope that I am wrong. I can’t see how this decision will benefit us.

“Regarding Cameron’s resignation, if the choice is between Osborne or Boris, or Cameron, I’d pick Cameron every time, and I am not his biggest fan!

“We’ve had significant cuts already to local government, and Daventry district was hit hard by them. I fear about further cuts being made.”

The results:

DAVENTRY: Leave (28,938, 59 per cent), Remain (20,443, 41 per cent)

For the rest of Northamptonshire

KETTERING: Leave (32,877, 61 per cent), Remain (21,030, 39 per cent)

NORTHAMPTON: Leave (61,454, 58 per cent), Remain (43,805, 42 per cent)

CORBY: Leave (20,611, 64 per cent), Remain (11,470, 36 per cent)

SOUTH NORTHANTS: Leave (30,771, 54 per cent), Remain (25,853, 46 per cent)

EAST NORTHANTS: Leave (30,894, 59 per cent), Remain (21,680, 41 per cent)

WELLINGBOROUGH: Leave (25,679, 62 per cent), Remain (15,462, 38 per cent)

Leave took 58.8 per cent of the East Midlands vote, with Remain taking 41.2 per cent.

Nationally the result was 52 per cent for leave, and 48 per cent for remain.