EU referendum: Suffolk supports EU split

All seven council areas voted to leave with Forest Heath having the the highest proportion of leave voters with 65% backing Brexit

Nearly 60% of voters in Suffolk voted to leave the European Union.

All seven council areas backed Brexit. The highest proportion of Leave voters in the county was Forest Heath with 65% supporting an EU-split.

Colin Sutton, a Vote Leave campaigner, said the result was a "really positive thing", adding he was "surprised at the scale of the leave vote".

Eastern region Labour MEP Richard Howitt said he hoped everybody would "respect the result".

"Despite some of the stupidity and excesses of the campaign, in the end we will look back and say - with a very high turnout - that the Great British electorate has undertaken a democratic process," he said.

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Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey paid tribute to David Cameron after he announced his resignation

David Ellesmere, leader of Ipswich Borough Council and Remain supporter, said: "This is a massive decision and probably the biggest political event that has happened in my lifetime.

"We are really sailing in uncharted waters now. Probably the most concerning thing is that there isn't a plan for what we do now.

"We need to get one quick."

Analysis

Vikki Irwin, BBC Radio Suffolk political reporter

The turnout on average across the county was 75.9% - higher than the national average of 72.2%.

All of Suffolk's districts and boroughs voted to leave, most notably Ipswich. It's a Labour stronghold, and has a more diverse and a younger demographic than rest of the mainly rural county, and 58% of those who voted in the town decided it was time to leave the EU.

Local politicians I spoke to before the final vote had been declared had hoped Ipswich would buck the trend. But that wasn't to be.

Questions will now have to be answered by all of Suffolk's MPs. All seven of them backed the Remain campaign. Quite clearly their constituents thought differently.

John Flack, Vote Leave representative at the Babergh count, said: "I am very happy. It is an historic moment for democracy.

"Democracy and Great Britain are the real winners here."

Following the news David Cameron had resigned, Therese Coffey, Conservative MP for Suffolk Coastal, said it was "sad" news he had stepped down.

"It was only a year ago he won a tremendous election and he was working hard to deliver our manifesto," Ms Coffey said. "But I understand and respect his decision."

James Cartlidge, Conservative MP for South Suffolk, said: "To hear he is stepping down is stunning and incredibly sad news.

"He has been an excellent prime minister. This is someone who has to run the country every day and he does it in a way that I think we've underestimated on many occasions.

"He is a statesman, and I think by God we will miss him."