11:23 p.m.

The British pound is cratering right now, dropping to 31-year lows against the U.S. dollar as a departure from the European Union looks increasingly likely. From Bloomberg:

The 8.5 percent plunge on Friday leaves the currency on course for its worst day on record, and compares with the 4.1 percent drop on 1992’s Black Wednesday, when the pound was forced out of Europe’s exchange-rate mechanism—the previous biggest daily drop. The pound’s biggest-ever intraday decline has already been surpassed - with a 9.5 percent drop on Friday beating a 5.9 percent decline on Oct. 24, 2008—when stock markets crashed around the world during the Great Financial Crisis.

11:15 p.m.

With Britain's exit from the EU looking increasingly likely, politicians and political commentators are speculating about the fate of David Cameron. The Conservative prime minister had strongly backed the U.K.'s continued membership in the EU, but the potential loss in the referendum, as well as the dramatic impact that possibility is having on the British currency and stock futures, is prompting speculation of his resignation and/or fresh elections.

I'm in shock. David Cameron's gamble has failed. His career is over. Will the Commons sit on Saturday? Is Boris Johnson really up to it? — John Rentoul (@JohnRentoul) June 24, 2016

11:13 p.m.

Nigel Farage, the leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party, told supporters at the leave campaign's headquarters, "Dare to dream, I think dawn is breaking on an independent United Kingdom." He added that June 23 will be go down in British history as "our independence day."

He then repeated his optimism on Twitter:

I now dare to dream that the dawn is coming up on an independent United Kingdom. — Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) June 24, 2016

11:06 p.m.

Many votes are still waiting to be counted, but the Independent's 3 AM front page for Friday is inching towards acknowledging a leave victory.

10:54 p.m.

The leave campaign is leading in England and Wales while the remain campaign is winning in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Here’s what that looks like.

This map shows how the nation has voted so far #EURefResults pic.twitter.com/d4ppzM2BtJ — Press Association (@PA) June 24, 2016

It’s worth noting that not all the results from the southeast, home to London, are in yet. That area is expected to vote to remain in the EU, though it’s unclear if there will be enough votes to close the gap.

10:40 p.m.

ITV News is now predicting an 80 percent probability of a victory for the leave campaign. Meanwhile, leave has taken a lead nationwide:

State of play at 3.30am, with 164 results in. #EURefResults pic.twitter.com/orb3tvvNCp — Ian Jones (@ian_a_jones) June 24, 2016

10:35 p.m.

The effect of a possible leave victory is roiling the pound, which is down 6 percent.

GBPUSD through 1.40 — World First (@World_First) June 24, 2016

GBP is behaving like the jig is up — World First (@World_First) June 24, 2016

Stock futures are showing a similar effect:

*FTSE 100 INDEX FUTURES DROP 4.3% — lemasabachthani (@lemasabachthani) June 24, 2016

10:31 p.m.

The remain camp have suffered a major loss in Sheffield, a city they were expected to win.

This is a huge loss for the remain side, as the city was a bastion of the Labour party.

10:24 p.m.

The Press Association still has the two sides neck and neck, at 3 a.m. GMT (10 p.m. ET):

It's remarkably close with 100 areas of 382 areas declared #EURefResults https://t.co/E7mp7z3uBV — Press Association (@PA) June 24, 2016

But the BBC is quoting John Curtice, the polling expert, as saying the leave campaign is the favorite to win.

10:06 p.m.

The remain side was boosted by its performance in Wandsworth, the London borough. It performed much better than expected, winning 75 percent to 25 percent, with a 72 percent turnout.

9:57 p.m.

However tonight ends, the vote is going to be extremely close. That’s possibly why British politicians are making it a point to say they will start listening to the electorate. John Mann, a Labour MP, says the party is “out of touch” on issues like immigration, prompting many of its traditional voters to vote leave. EU membership allows citizens of member states to freely settle and work in any of the bloc’s 28 countries. That can be a boon if you’re a job-seeker, but not so much if you’ve had your wages undercut. Indeed, John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, says he doesn’t think Labour has “been listening enough” to its supporters.

If you’re wondering why we’re focusing on Labour voters, it’s because the party’s members are mostly supportive of EU membership. This isn’t true of the ruling Conservatives, who have a large Euro-skeptic bloc—even if David Cameron, the prime minister, has championed the remain side.

9:45 p.m.

The Press Association reports that the remain side now has a slight lead over leave.

It’s important to point out that this is still early in the counting phase. Indeed, the BBC has lower numbers, and has the leave side leading: 1,292,762 votes versus 1,144,509 votes.

9:35 p.m.

The Remain side appears to be performing better than expected in their stronghold London, but is it too late?

Large numbers for Remain in the London boroughs may just give them the edge. Whether it's too late is yet to be seen. — Britain Elects (@britainelects) June 24, 2016

But in Wales, the leave side is performing well. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, the remain side is expected to win.

9:30 p.m.

The bettors giveth, and the bettors taketh away. Labrokes now has remain is favored to win. Here are the odds:

9:23 p.m.

The leave side has reached the 1-million vote mark before the remain side, according to the BBC.

#Leave campaign is first to 1 million votes, but a long way still to go...https://t.co/K6pbNnkHr0 #EURef pic.twitter.com/JXvEGyd11l — BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) June 24, 2016

9:08 p.m.

Here are the results so far:

John Curtice, the polling expert, estimates to the BBC that 16.8 million votes are needed to win referendum. At this stage, he says, the leave side has a slight edge—though it’s still early days.

8:54 p.m.

Broadly speaking, so far this evening, England is voting to leave the EU while Scotland is voting to remain.

The story so far...

England is voting to #Leave

But Scotland is voting to #Remainhttps://t.co/UjmmdHNacp pic.twitter.com/60jM1XeiXt — BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) June 24, 2016

Also, as in any campaign in which a side is doing worse than expected—in this case the “remain” side—the recriminations have begun: The Guardian quotes Chris Bryant, a Labour leader in the House of Commons, as saying of Ed Miliband, the former party leader: “I might go and punch him because he’s a tosspot and he left the party in the state it’s in.”

Both men support the remain side—as does a broad majority of the Labour party.

Kate Hoey, another party member, said Labour risks losing many of their traditional voters because of its pro-EU position. Hoey, who backs leave, told Sky News:

We will find thousands and thousands of Labour supporters abandoning the Labour view on this because we’ve known for a long time, being out there, that Labour supporters, the Labour Party view on this, is out of step with Labour supporters and ex-Labour supporters, who I'm afraid we'll probably find will not come back to us after the way the leadership have fought this campaign of staying in.

8:35 p.m.

The betting markets are often a more accurate predictor of election results. Here’s Betfair’s latest:

Separately, the fall in the British pound is the third-biggest on record, after the great recession of 2008 and 1992, when the currency left the European exchange-rate mechanism.

8:27 p.m.

The Press Association has a useful map of results to look for:

Here's a reminder of the key #EUref results to look out for tonight pic.twitter.com/9iXXEkZwqW — Press Association (@PA) June 23, 2016

8:03 p.m.

Several results have come in, including from Sunderland, where the leave campaign won by a larger-than-expected margin: 61,745 votes to 51,220. And here are the results from Swindon:

In Newcastle, where the remain campaign was expected to perform well, it won by a much smaller margin than expected: 65,404 votes (50.7 percent) to 63,598 votes (49.3 percent).

The results have caused the British pound to plummet:

But the BBC points out, both the leave and remain sides are performing better than expected in their areas—making the overall results hard to predict. Remember, a simple majority will determine the winner.

7:58 p.m.

Turnout in the City of London was 73.58 percent, the returning officer there said, with 4,405 out of 5,987 eligible voters casting their ballots. The area or about 1 square mile roughly corresponds to the British capital’s financial heart.

7:52 p.m.

There were questions about Prime Minister David Cameron’s future if Britain voted to leave the EU. Cameron, who campaigned for the U.K. to remain in the U.K., had first promised a referendum—a move for which he has since been criticized—and had staked his political reputation on its results. But Boris Johnson, a fellow Conservative, and 84 other MPs, in a letter, urged Cameron to remain prime minister regardless of the results.

The letter was signed by 84 MPs, two-thirds of those who publicly supported the Vote Leave Campaign list attached pic.twitter.com/CvKYCWyZJz — Robert Syms MP (@robertsymsmp) June 23, 2016

6:58 p.m.

Counting is under way across the U.K. after millions of people voted in a referendum on the country’s membership in the European Union.

Polls conducted before Thursday’s vote suggested the outcome was too close to call, but an online poll conducted today by YouGov pointed to a slight edge for those who want the U.K. to remain in the EU.

YouGov on-the-day poll: REMAIN 52, LEAVE 48 pic.twitter.com/TFlAcGcYIR — YouGov (@YouGov) June 23, 2016

Indeed, Nigel Farage, the head of the U.K. Independence Party, who has championed Britain’s exit from the EU, told the Press Association that his “friends in the financial markets who have done some big polling” say the country has voted to remain.

The first results from Gibraltar, the British overseas territory near Spain, were overwhelmingly in favor of staying.

The result, which is likely to be made final Friday morning local time (overnight in the Eastern time zone), could have far-reaching implications for the EU, the 28-member bloc that is post-war Europe’s most ambitious experiment.

Initial figures from the country’s Electoral Commission said 46.5 million people had registered—a record in Britain for what is only its third referendum ever. Polls opened at 7 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET) and closed at 10 p.m.

For a guide to Brexit, go here.

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