It was a day that turned our world on its head. Chris Lloyd looks at the political fall-out of yesterday’s referendum result.

What does it mean for the North-East?

THE North-East led the way on Friday morning. When Newcastle, a youthful city, became the first to declare and gave Remain only a slender lead, it suddenly seemed likely that Britain would be exiting. Then Sunderland followed up with a decisive out – 61 per cent to 39 per cent – despite the misgivings of Nissan, and the die was cast.

The region voted overwhelmingly to leave. Only Newcastle, York and Harrogate wanted to remain, and Teesside was especially out – Hartlepool, where Ukip came second at the General Election, was one of the most stridently anti-EU places in the whole country, with 70 per cent wanting out.

This is despite the region having the most of anywhere in England to lose from leaving: it is reliant on inward investors, like Hitachi, and it sells the highest proportion of its goods to Europe. Recessions bite hard up here – the region has barely recovered from the crash of 2008, unlike the flyaway south – and so the scare stories of the in campaign could have carried weight.

But perhaps the result should be no surprise. Demographic studies suggests that the poorer, the older, the more rural, the more white and the less highly educated the population, the more likely it is to vote Leave.

The North-East is traditionally Labour, and it feels it has suffered disproportionately from austerity under David Cameron’s Government. It would be hard for anyone in, say, Darlington, which is seeing the unravelling of its soul through cutbacks, to support a campaign headed by Mr Cameron.

But Labour now has an enormous problem. Only one of its 26 North-East MPs – Ronnie Campbell in Blyth Valley – backed Brexit. The party now finds itself out of tune with a large majority of Durham and the Tees Valley. To show how completely our world has been turned around, Stockton South’s Conservative MP James Wharton is now more in touch with the Labour grassroots than Labour itself.

Over more than two decades, the region has grown disillusioned with Labour, but only found a few acceptable alternatives, like the Hartlepool monkey and Middlesbrough’s Ray Mallon. Now, though, the traditional Labour vote may well find a home in Ukip.

What does it mean for the country?

BEFORE breakfast had been digested yesterday, David Cameron struck a perfect note with his dignified resignation. It was the right move at the right time, performed with grace.

History will not be such a kind judge. Mr Cameron only promised a referendum in a desperate bid to win over waverers in 2015. It worked. He squeaked home with a surprise 12-seat majority.

The by-product of his lust for power is that Britain has quit the EU, Scotland seems likely to quit the UK, Northern Ireland may reunite with the Republic, and the whole EU could collapse as right-wing movements gain momentum.

At home, he has divided the kingdom: he has set young against old, bosses against employees, city against countryside, immigrant against native, London against England, England against Scotland, Tory against Tory. His great success was to have stabilised the economy, but instead he has delivered it to, at best, two years of uncertainty or, at worst, much longer of stagnation or even recession.

Boris Johnson – who was not committed to the Brexit cause until five weeks ago – is now odds-on favourite to be the next Prime Minister. Perhaps Theresa May – or new Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb whose only previous claim to fame was being the first Tory Cabinet minister with a beard for 100 years – can emerge as the “anyone-but-Boris” candidate. This tactic, though, failed to stop Donald Trump’s triumph in the US.

So another great irony is that traditional Labour voters who wanted change and so voted against an elitist Conservative government led by an old Etonian appear to have ushered into power a right-wing elitist Conservative government led by an old Etonian.

It may be that the new Prime Minister feels the need to seek a mandate and holds a general election. After all, there would be further irony if Leave, which made much of the undemocratic and unelected nature of the EU, should form a government headed by someone like Mr Johnson who was not part of the Tory top team elected last year.

And, if an election were called, what of Labour? There is growing pressure on Jeremy Corbyn for his lacklustre support of Remain although, in his left-wing heart of hearts, he was closer to his grassroots than the rest of his Parliamentary party.

The fear is that in a quick election, Labour will be annihilated in England just as it was annihilated in Scotland last year. The one consolation for the party is that it was an unelectable shambles before the referendum and it is still an unelectable shambles after the referendum.

But amid all of this turmoil and uncertainty, it should be remembered that Britain has got what it wanted. A majority – 52 per cent – voted to leave, and many are genuinely glad to have freed Britain from the dead-hand shackles of the superstate so that it can make its way prosperously in the world.

Indeed, few of the 48 per cent who voted to Remain did so happily. They knew the EU had fundamental flaws. They knew Britain laboured under its yoke, and they knew unchecked immigration was unpopular.

The decision was taken in less than a day at the polls, but it will take a decade to work through all of its ramifications.