BREXIT: We have done a very '˜unintelligent' thing, warns politician

The words of warning came from East Hampshire – which includes the Horndean and Petersfield area – where 50.5 per cent of people voted to remain in the EU.

The remain vote was mirrored in arguably more affluent areas, including the Winchester district, which includes Denmead and Wickham, where 58.9 per cent of people voted to remain.

Horndean Councillor Guy Shepherd, who sits on the cabinet at East Hampshire District Council and works in the construction industry, said: ‘I think it’s a very sad outcome.

‘I think as a nation, we have done a very unintelligent thing.

‘As a nation we will now find out what the worse case will be.

‘It may take 10 years to find out how this will affect us.

‘I think a lot of people were just very angry with the EU. They may have won that particular battle, but they may have lost the war.

‘For people who wanted to have our sovereignty back, the price we are going to pay for that is incredibly high.’

About why East Hampshire chose to remain, he added: ‘East Hampshire has a large business and professional population.

‘For them the implications of exit are probably a bit more apparent.’

George Hollingbery, the MP for the Meon Valley, which includes Waterlooville, Horndean and Wickham, told The News today: ‘As a party we promised in our manifesto to hold a referendum.

‘We did so.

‘The country has now said what it wants.’

He said the government had a ‘moral duty’ to carry out the public’s wishes.

He added: ‘They said they wanted to leave and I’m sure that’s what will happen.

‘There will be an awful lot of meetings going on today.’