EU referendum: Record number of people registered to vote, says Electoral Commission
A record number of people are eligible to vote in tomorrow's EU referendum, after the biggest ever voter registration drive helped hundreds of thousands get their names on the electoral roll.
Provisional figures released by the elections watchdog, the Electoral Commission, show 46.5m people signed up to vote tomorrow – 150,000 more than could have turned out at last year's general election.
More than two million people joined the electoral roll alone between December and June, the Electoral Commission added.
Where are the voters?
Unsurprisingly, of the 46.5m people who can vote tomorrow, the vast majority – 83.7 per cent are in England. Scotland claims 8.5 per cent of the votes, with Wales on 4.8 per cent and Northern Ireland having the smallest say in tomorrow's vote, with just 2.7 per cent.
Another 24,117 – or 0.05 per cent – hail from the UK outpost of Gibraltar. David Cameron had been scheduled to give a campaign rally there on Thursday, but this was cancelled following the murder of Labour MP Cox.
Total electorate | Change since December | |
England | 38,956,824 | 4.8 per cent |
Scotland | 3,986,898 | Three per cent |
Wales | 2,270,743 | 4.7 per cent |
Northern Ireland | 1,260,995 | 1.9 per cent |
Gibraltar | 24,117 | N/A |
The capital will have a bigger say over the outcome of the referendum than Scotland, with a total of 5.4 million people eligible to vote in London tomorrow – making up more than 11 per cent of all eligible voters.
More than 400,000 registered to vote in London between December and June, the Electoral Commission said.
The South East, however, is the region with the most voters – at 6.47m, while Northern Ireland and the North East both have fewer than 2m.
Total electorate | Change since December | Proportion of total | |
South East | 6,472,915 | 5.6 per cent | 13.9 per cent |
London | 5,424,289 | 6.6 per cent | 11.7 per cent |
North West | 5,237,900 | 3.9 per cent | 11.3 per cent |
Eastern | 4,398,430 | 4.4 per cent | 9.5 per cent |
South West | 4,138,015 | 5.9 per cent | 8.9 per cent |
West Midlands | 4,116,119 | 3.9 per cent | 8.9 per cent |
Scotland | 3,986,898 | 3.0 per cent | 8.6 per cent |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 3,873,908 | 4.7 per cent | 8.3 per cent |
East Midlands | 3,385,057 | 4.1 per cent | 7.3 per cent |
Wales | 2,270,057 | 4.7 per cent | 4.9 per cent |
North East | 1,934,228 | 3.8 per cent | 4.2 per cent |
Northern Ireland | 1,260,955 | 1.9 per cent | 2.7 per cent |
Gibraltar | 24,117 | N/A | 0.05 per cent |
In total, there are 382 local counting districts, or areas, that will be announcing results in the early hours of Friday morning.
However, because the result will be decided on whoever wins the most votes across the entire country, there are no constituencies. That means that the size of these areas varies markedly – which has implications for what results we should be paying a close eye on over the course of the night.
The biggest single result could come from Birmingham, where the results from its 707,000-strong electorate will be declared at 4am. Other big cities announcing their result in one go include Leeds (543,000), Glasgow (450,000), Sheffield (393,000) and Edinburgh (346,000).
Largest electorates
Area | Size | Proportion of total |
Birmingham | 707,210 | 1.5 per cent |
Leeds | 543,037 | 1.2 per cent |
Glasgow City | 449,731 | One per cent |
Cornwall | 419,738 | 0.9 per cent |
Sheffield | 393,055 | 0.9 per cent |
Smallest electorates
Area | Size | Proportion of total |
Isles of Scilly | 1,799 | 0.004 per cent |
City of London | 5,986 | 0.013 per cent |
Orkney Islands | 16,658 | 0.036 per cent |
Shetland Islands | 17,375 | 0.037 per cent |
Eilean Siar | 21,259 | 0.046 per cent |
Of course, turnout will vary across the country, so it is hard to guess exactly how many voters from each area will cast their ballot, though it seems a reasonable assumption that Birmingham could be the single biggest result on the night.
Use the table below to check how big your constituency is, then head here to find our when the results will be coming in.
How many voters are registered in each area?
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