29 Batsh*t Crazy Things You'd Forgotten Happened When Britain Voted For Brexit

If you don't laugh, you'll probably cry.
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It’s been a year since 72.2% of UK voters took to the polls with 51.9% voting to leave the European Union and 48.1% voting to Remain.

Remainers will probably remember feeling like they’d been punched in the stomach as the unexpected, knife-edge result defied the polls.

Feeling bl-EU...
Feeling bl-EU...
Isabel Infantes

For Eurosceptics the memory might be celebration after years of campaigning to be free of EU restrictions. For other Leave voters, perhaps a different type of shock - “What? My voted actually counted?” (See video above.)

However they voted, most people experienced confusion in the days, and indeed the year since.

No-Jo...
No-Jo...
Mary Turner

But while hearing the word Brexit has become as common as eating breakfast (yup, remember this?) there was a lot of stuff that went down a year ago in the shitstorm that ensued you may have forgotten. 29 in fact.

So, here’s a handy reminder, a year later.

1) There was a conspiracy theory around pencils and pens

As people took to the polls on Thursday 23 June 2016, rumours started circulating that someone would be rubbing out Leave votes written in pencil and switching them to Remain.

This prompted the hashtag #UsePens.

Don't forget your black pens tmoro people #usepens #VoteLeave 💪🏼🇬🇧

— Danielle Chamberlain (@DanChamberlainx) June 22, 2016

One Leave voter even tweeted a video of police attending following a disagreement about her lending her pen to other voters.

2) A blind 93-year-old woman went viral

Another term that started bizarrely started trending on voting day, was ’93yr mum’. It was finally tracked back to a Twitter user called Keith who had Tweeted “Just took 93yr Mum to vote, she’s registered blind. In a very loud voice she said, “Which box for out?” A cheer went up from waiting voters.”

Twitter had a field day, obviously.

Just took 93yr Mum to vote, she's registered blind. In a very loud voice she said, "Re-e-wind"
The waiting crowd cheered "Bo Selecta"

— Amanda (@Pandamoanimum) June 23, 2016

Just took 93yr Mum to vote, she's registered blind. She's unaware I took her to Ladbrokes where she voted for Iceland to win the Euros

— Ollie Barnes (@barnesy07) June 23, 2016

3) Tony Blair got trolled

On referendum day, the former PM announced how he’d voted in a way that delighted Photoshoppers. How could it possibly backfire?

I believe voting to Remain will secure Britain’s place as a proud, influential country with a strong economy. TB pic.twitter.com/q6rIJI8JIx

— Tony Blair Institute (@InstituteGC) June 23, 2016

Twitter had another field day.

"I'm Tony Blair and I endorse this message" pic.twitter.com/VCYG6ReU8r

— DocHackenbush (@DocHackenbush) June 23, 2016

4) ‘What is the EU?’ became one of the most Googled questions

The question was the second most searched for term with regard to the European Union, according to Google trends.

"What is the EU?" is the second top UK question on the EU since the #EURefResults were officially announced pic.twitter.com/1q4VAX3qcm

— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) June 24, 2016

What’s most worrying though, is that those were the most searched for questions AFTER the results had been announced.

5) Final polls got it totally wrong

It was actually the exact opposite of what the actual result was - with an on-the-day poll predicted 52% would back the UK staying in the EU.

YouGov on-the-day poll: REMAIN 52, LEAVE 48 pic.twitter.com/TFlAcGcYIR

— YouGov (@YouGov) June 23, 2016

We can’t really blame YouGov for getting it wrong if people weren’t even sure what the EU is, or was, right?

6) People really believed they could change the result

'I love eU'
'I love eU'
Isabel Infantes

As the UK came to terms with the somewhat unexpected (see polls above) decision to leave the European Union, some (pretty much 48% of voters) believed there could be a second referendum. A petition for the government to hold a second referendum on Brexit proved so popular it temporarily crashed the parliament website.

Richard Branson was among celebrities who backed it.

It was actually set up before the referendum by Brexiter. He was annoyed when it was hijacked by the opposition.

It eventually gained more than FOUR MILLION signatures.

7) #notinmyname and #TheIndecentMinority massively trended

#notinmyname
#notinmyname
Isabel Infantes

OK, so we know 48% were dissatisfied with the outcome but do you remember this Twitter trend?

On the morning of the result, people who were pro-EU used the hashtag to voice their frustrations.

Don't think I have ever felt more depressed about the future of this country than this morning. #NotInMyName

— meme - 48% (@sanachnaa) June 24, 2016

Meanwhile JK Rowling was among remainers who said they were proud to be in Nigel Farage’s ‘indecent minority’ after he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: It’s a fantastic day and it’s a victory not for me… but for ordinary, decent people who’ve taken on the establishment and won.”

Guardian columnist Marina Hyde retweeted Farage’s words, pointing out they appeared to imply: “Remainers you are extraordinarily indecent.”

Farage stresses this is "a victory for ordinary people, decent people." Remainers you are extraordinarily indecent.

— Marina Hyde (@MarinaHyde) June 24, 2016

And of course this sparked a trend spearheaded by Rowling.

Proud to be part of #TheIndecentMinority https://t.co/wb91hJm1n8

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 24, 2016

8) London tried to join the EU

Isabel Infantes

In London, where 59.9% (2.26 million) voted Remain, people actually started calling for the capital’s independence.

“Can London” made it into the Twitter trends on 24 June as Londoners began pleading for their own independence.

Can London now vote to leave the country and join Europe? #Brexit

— Josh Newis-Smith (@omy_josh) June 24, 2016

It later gained credence when it was seriously touted by a Labour lord.

Independence for London within the EU should now be our goal. We would have a GDP twice as large as Singapore. pic.twitter.com/ISXhNp3toy

— Spencer Livermore (@SpenceLivermore) June 24, 2016

In Scotland where the Remain vote was 62% to Leave’s 38%, Nicola Sturgeon said she and London Mayor Sadiq Khan shared the same view about their areas remaining in EU.

She said: “I have also spoken this morning with Sadiq Khan and he is clear that he shares this objective for London, so there is clear common cause between us.”

London, nor Scotland, became independent.

9) Boris Johnson got called a c*** on live television

Cyclists vented their anger at the former mayor in the wake of the result by gathering outside his home to jeer and boo him.

Kay Burley was live on Sky News when someone’s four-lettered expletive was captured on camera.

10) Thousands marched for the EU - despite event being cancelled

Anti-Brexit slogans were chanted and pro-EU love songs sung by a sea of blue and yellow as thousands of EU supporters marched to Parliament to peacefully protest Brexit.

The scheduled London Stays rally had actually been cancelled over safety concerns. But in true British spirit, LOADS of people formed a giant queue and snaked to Trafalgar Square anyway.

HuffPost UK went along and filmed it. Explore the 360 degree video here.

11) Cornwall made demands - despite voting Leave

Meanwhile, in Cornwall the leader of the council demanded the UK Government replace the £60million a year of EU support it would lose as a result of the Brexit vote - despite the county voting to Leave the EU.

12) Gary Lineker’s Tweet about Nigel Farage proved popular

Whatever the result, Farage will always be a dick.

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) June 23, 2016

13) Farage angered even more people with his ‘insensitive’ comment

The Brexit kingpin pissed people off yet again when he claimed the Leave vote was won “without a single bullet being fired” just days after the murder of Jo Cox.

Nigel Farage claims #Brexit victory 'without a single bullet being fired'. Unbelievably insensitive and crass after #JoCox killing.

— Michael Wilkinson (@ThatMichaelW) June 24, 2016

Will @Nigel_Farage apologise to Jo Cox's family for saying "we won it without a bullet being fired"? @Independent pic.twitter.com/3cJEg7KkfN

— Jack Mendel (@Mendelpol) June 24, 2016

14) Frankie Boyle summed up the ‘absolute despair’ of Remain voters

Here’s a selection of the series of withering Tweets. More here.

Still, it's been good to see an election where we've focussed on what unites us, which, sadly, is hatred.

— Frankie Boyle (@frankieboyle) June 23, 2016

Don't forget that we can restore the value of Sterling simply by buying pounds off each other. I'm offering 30p each.

— Frankie Boyle (@frankieboyle) June 24, 2016

Still, at least we have put a stop to economic migration, by making the pound worthless

— Frankie Boyle (@frankieboyle) June 24, 2016

And as Boris takes control, we finally understand that they wanted to control our borders so they could stop us from fleeing

— Frankie Boyle (@frankieboyle) June 24, 2016

It's important to just accept the result and move on, possibly to another country.

— Frankie Boyle (@frankieboyle) June 24, 2016

15) Some Leave voters were shocked their vote actually counted

A Leave voter pissed people off when he admitted on national television he hadn’t thought his ballot would matter and was shocked Brexit was actually going to happen.

As the video at the top shows, Adam said: “I’m a bit shocked to be honest.

“I’m shocked that we voted for Leave, I didn’t think that was going to happen.

“I didn’t think my vote was going to matter too much because I thought we were just going to remain.”

To the man on @BBCNews in Manchester who voted leave but is now "shocked" that his vote mattered and is now "worried", well done sir. Moron.

— Suzie Wright (@suziewright94) June 24, 2016

16) More Leave voters started regretting their vote

More and more people started admitting they regretted voting Leave with many claiming that they never intended to leave but simply wanted to “protest”.

Women who was stupid enough to cast her vote as a protest and regrets it is then stupid enough to admit it on #r4today. 🙄

— Henry Pryor (@HenryPryor) June 27, 2016

17) Everyone was sharing this ‘Yes Minister’ clip

The clip from the 1980s BBC Comedy shows Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby explaining to minister Jim Hacker why the UK has such a tumultuous relationship with the EU.

As the video shows, he says: “We had to break the whole thing up, so we had to get inside.

“We tried to break it up from the outside, but that wouldn’t work. Now that we’re inside we can make a complete pig’s breakfast of the whole thing.”

The line clearly struck a chord.

18) A ‘classic’ meme was revamped and shared

The meme from Hitler film ‘Downfall’ was another viral video on referendum results day after it was re-worked to poke fun at the result.

With a few funny subtitles added, the scene from Hitler’s bunker was turned into the exact moment Boris Johnson‘s Brexit HQ heard they had won the popular vote.

19) Fox News thought we’d voted to leave the UN

The result got slightly skewed by Fox News, when they confused the European Union with the United Nations.

FOX News - a little confused! pic.twitter.com/K0n1QdOiBV

— Sam Kiley (@kileysky) June 24, 2016

@mrjamesob in all this turmoil, Fox News still manages to raise a smile. pic.twitter.com/7pKEQtO3ur

— Mark H (@pinguescent) June 24, 2016

20) A pro-Brexit MP said ‘There is no plan’

just WOW https://t.co/oyf2LdwvJZ

— Peter Mcpartland (@PED7) June 26, 2016

Sky News political editor Faisal Islam was left speechless after claiming a Conservative pro-Brexit MP told him the Leave campaign “didn’t have a plan” for Brexit and “number 10 should have had one”.

Presenter Anna Botting didn’t know what to say after a stunned Islam revealed a Tory MP told him “there is no plan” following the result.

21 ) The Leave campaign u-turned on some REALLY IMPORTANT ISSUES

Just as the dust was settling after the referendum, there was some hasty backtracking from the Leave campaign in the days that followed.

Most people know about the infamous ‘£350m saving for the NHS’, which proved to be absolutely bullshit, but here’s some backtracking on immigration. Evan Davis was NOT happy.

.@evanHD isn't happy with this potential change of tone on freedom of movement...#brexit #newsnight https://t.co/VKnfMz70ke

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) June 24, 2016

22) One Leave Voter voted Leave to ‘stop Muslims coming into the UK’

Across the channels, Channel Four News found one of many people who were clearly so confused by the mixed messages of the campaign they thought leaving the EU would stop Muslims coming into the country.

Unfortunately it was a view shared by others.

23) Hate crimes reported to police increased by 57%

Remember, all that nasty post-Brexit racism. Uh-huh... Sadly the dawn of the Brexit result meant a load of xenophobic morons thought it gave them permission to reveal their prejudices and in some cases act upon them.

Days after the referendum, the National Police Chiefs’ Council revealed hate crimes reported to police rose 57% in the four days from the vote compared to four weeks before.

24) People starting wearing safety pins

Really nice, but pretty crazy all the same.

In the wake of a surge in hate crime mentioned above, Brits showed solidarity to victims of post-Brexit racism and immigrants wearing a simple safety pin.

The campaign started by a Twitter user called Allison was set up so anyone who felt threatened could easily identify a safe ally to turn to.

So I have an idea similar to #ridewithme to help protect those eing abused as result of Brexit referendum - but I need your help.

— miss pommery 1926 ✊ (@cheeahs) June 26, 2016

I quite like the idea of just putting a safety pin, empty of anything else, on your coat. A literal SAFETY pin!

— miss pommery 1926 ✊ (@cheeahs) June 26, 2016

Day 1 of Initiative #safetypin - for EU nat'ls and for immigrants, this means I'm a safe person in an unsafe world. pic.twitter.com/WurV3QOIP8

— miss pommery 1926 ✊ (@cheeahs) June 27, 2016

25) Nigel Farage gave a horribly smug speech

The then-Ukip leader was heckled and left politicians with their heads in their hands as he spoke to the European Parliament for the first time since the vote.

Re-live it here, if you bear it.

26) Boris Johnson made an unexpected Pornhub debut - fully clothed

A video of BoJo was uploaded to the internet’s biggest porn website, titled ‘Dumb British blond f**ks 15 million people at once.’

27) Michael Gove f**ked Boris over

Mary Turner

Two days before Britain went to the polls, key ‘Leave’ figurehead Michael Gove hinted he might quit as justice secretary if the country voted ‘Remain’. When asked about it, he said: “Of course, depending on what the result is on Friday I will reflect and I will decide what is the best course for me.”

Had the result been the other way, Gove might have slipped into the shadows but he got the result he wanted. So the man who called the Referendum in the first place Prime Minister David Cameron quit later that day.

Career politicians came out of the woodwork in the leadership race. Gove originally backed frontrunner BoJo as his campaign manager but then made a last minute bid to become PM.

As Boris chose not to run, Gove denied stabbing him in the back.

Four other candidates came forward Andrea Leadsom, Stephen Crabb, Liam Fox and Theresa May. In the first-round ballot Fox was eliminated while Crabb subsequently withdrew. Gove was knocked out in the next round before Leadsom withdrew from the race on 11 July. May became PM two days later.

28) David Cameron made Larry the Cat the star of his last day as PM

Bizarrely, Cameron used his last PMQs to praise his feline pal, telling Commons colleagues: “I love Larry, but I can’t take him with me”, producing a photo of himself with the animal.

He later Tweeted this pic.

Proof... pic.twitter.com/UZVXn6WcUw

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) July 13, 2016

And finally...

29) Donald Trump said Leaving EU was ‘a great thing’ but also said Scotland voted to take ‘their country back’

Back to the day after the referendum, the Republican was actually in the UK on the day of the result. He said it is a “great thing” that the people of the UK had “taken back their country” as he visited his Scottish golf resort.

He also got ripped to pieces when he Tweeted the same day that Scotland had “taken their country back, just like we will take America back.”

Just arrived in Scotland. Place is going wild over the vote. They took their country back, just like we will take America back. No games!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2016

A year ago, Donald Trump was not US President. Oh, how times have changed.

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