UK votes to leave European Union – now what?

The UK has spoken. The Referendum on Thursday, which saw a massive turnout of over 70%, resulted in a vote to leave the European Union. A total of 51.9%, or 17,410,742 people voted to Leave, compared with 48.1%, or 16,141,241people who voted Remain. While England voted overwhelmingly for Brexit, except London which voted to stay, while Scotland and Northern Ireland backed Remain.

The pound crashed to the lowest level since 1985 as sterling fell below $1.35. Complacency about a Brexit outcome will come clear this morning; the FTSE 100 slumped 7.4% on opening. Prime Minister David Cameron announced this morning that it would not be right for him to be at the helm of the negotiations for leaving, and that he would want to see a new PM named before the start of the Conservative conference in October.

So what now? According to international legal practice Hogan Lovells, first, Brexit does not happen immediately. The UK government now needs to decide when to serve notice and trigger a two-year exit negotiation period. The exit process is unprecedented and uncertain – and it is unclear what will follow.