With 200 of 382 results declared, Brexit camp leads

LONDON: Britain looked increasingly likely to be leaving the European Union early Friday after results from 200 of 382 local areas in the referendum gave Brexit a clear lead.

The number of votes cast stood at 7.8 million for "Leave", 51.69 percent, compared to 7.3 million for "Remain", or 48.31 percent.

The city of Sunderland in north eastern England voted more strongly than expected to leave the European Union at a membership referendum on Thursday.

According to official results, 61.3 percent of voters in Sunderland backed leaving the bloc, above the 56.5 percent predicted by J.P. Morgan in analysis published before the vote.

Chanting and cheering, "Leave" supporters hailed early victories in the EU referendum at a lavish party in London featuring a large cake decorated with a champagne bottle and a Union Jack flag.

Whenever a Brexit result came in, champagne corks popped as campaigners shouted out the name of the region voting in their favour at the party in the Millbank tower block in Westminster.

"The eurosceptic genie is out of the bottle and it will now not be put back," UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage said at the party.
"EU´s finished, EU´s dead," he said, as the cheerful crowd chanted: "Out! Out! Out!"