Ouch!
The results in the European elections held on Thursday and counted and announced last night are the clearest possibly indication that the country is polarising in its' views on Europe.
Of those who voted - about a third of the electorate:
Millions of voters are furious that we are still in the EU having voted to leave, six weeks after we were supposed to do so. Hence the rise of the Brexit party which was only formed six weeks ago to a stunning first place in the European elections.
Millions of other voters want to try to stop us leaving - hence the resurrection of the Lib/Dems.
Parties which tried to appeal to both leave and remain voters - the Conservatives and Labour - took a hammering.
Two thirds of the electorate did not vote
We don't have any accurate figures about how many millions think we should have left and didn't vote in protest - though you can bet your life it is in the millions - or how many had the opposite opinion, how many were genuinely unable to vote and how many don't care..
I personally suspect that the number of people who stayed at home in protest because they don't want to leave the EU is vastly smaller than the number who stayed at home in protest because we haven't. Plenty of voters told me they were refusing to vote on Thursday because the elections should not be taking place as we should have left but I have not met a single voter who said they were staying at home because they don't want to leave the EU. Why would anyone stay at home in protest at the UK holding elections for a body they want Britain to be part of?
So those pro-remain voices in the media and elsewhere who have added up the votes for the Lib/Dems and other pro-Remain parties to get to a higher total than the Brexit party and UKIP and are therefore suggesting that these elections show that Britain now wants to stay in the EU are probably kidding themselves.
It was a ghastly night for both the Conservatives and Labour.
I still think that the government of Britain needs to address the concerns of both the 52% who voted Leve and the 48% who voted Remain, but if there is one thing which is clear from this election is that any such attempt cannot include any ambiguity about whether you now support Remain or Leave.
If we want this country to get over Brexit and return to being governable, we have to deliver what people voted for in 2016 and 80% of MPs promised in the 2017 manifestos and leave the EU.
Here is a reminder of why we have not already left:
90% of Conservative MPs, five honourable Labour MPs and four Independents voted to leave the EU with a deal. The other parties and 34 Conservatives MPs - about 10% - voted against.
This is no longer mainly about the merits of Brexit, it is whether this country is governed by the votes of the people in the ballot box or by the elites.
That is why we have to find a way to get Brexit over the line. I hope that the new Conservative leader can find a form of Brexit that all Conservative MPs can vote for. If he or she cannot, it will not just be a disaster for the Conservative party, but for the country.
Of those who voted - about a third of the electorate:
Millions of voters are furious that we are still in the EU having voted to leave, six weeks after we were supposed to do so. Hence the rise of the Brexit party which was only formed six weeks ago to a stunning first place in the European elections.
Millions of other voters want to try to stop us leaving - hence the resurrection of the Lib/Dems.
Parties which tried to appeal to both leave and remain voters - the Conservatives and Labour - took a hammering.
Two thirds of the electorate did not vote
We don't have any accurate figures about how many millions think we should have left and didn't vote in protest - though you can bet your life it is in the millions - or how many had the opposite opinion, how many were genuinely unable to vote and how many don't care..
I personally suspect that the number of people who stayed at home in protest because they don't want to leave the EU is vastly smaller than the number who stayed at home in protest because we haven't. Plenty of voters told me they were refusing to vote on Thursday because the elections should not be taking place as we should have left but I have not met a single voter who said they were staying at home because they don't want to leave the EU. Why would anyone stay at home in protest at the UK holding elections for a body they want Britain to be part of?
So those pro-remain voices in the media and elsewhere who have added up the votes for the Lib/Dems and other pro-Remain parties to get to a higher total than the Brexit party and UKIP and are therefore suggesting that these elections show that Britain now wants to stay in the EU are probably kidding themselves.
It was a ghastly night for both the Conservatives and Labour.
I still think that the government of Britain needs to address the concerns of both the 52% who voted Leve and the 48% who voted Remain, but if there is one thing which is clear from this election is that any such attempt cannot include any ambiguity about whether you now support Remain or Leave.
If we want this country to get over Brexit and return to being governable, we have to deliver what people voted for in 2016 and 80% of MPs promised in the 2017 manifestos and leave the EU.
Here is a reminder of why we have not already left:
90% of Conservative MPs, five honourable Labour MPs and four Independents voted to leave the EU with a deal. The other parties and 34 Conservatives MPs - about 10% - voted against.
This is no longer mainly about the merits of Brexit, it is whether this country is governed by the votes of the people in the ballot box or by the elites.
That is why we have to find a way to get Brexit over the line. I hope that the new Conservative leader can find a form of Brexit that all Conservative MPs can vote for. If he or she cannot, it will not just be a disaster for the Conservative party, but for the country.
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