A moment in history

“Tomorrow is one of those moments in history that I suspect we will all remember for a long time. The referendum starts at 0700 when the polls open and they close again at 2200; 370,000 people are registered to vote in the county, an increase of 20,000 since the end of 2015. This is very positive for democracy in the county as well as a good cleanse and update of our electoral register. We then start the verification and count tomorrow night at 2200 and I expect to declare a result for Wiltshire somewhere between 0430 and 0530 Friday morning. The national result is likely to be declared a little later at breakfast time in Manchester.

Whatever the result, the outcome will have a profound effect on our lives, businesses and the prosperity for the county and country. So historical indeed.

Could I just say thank you to the election team for organising tomorrow. It’s a mammoth feat of programme management, technical knowledge, logistics and overall organisation. And they have done a brilliant job as they always do.

And thank you too to you all – 850 of you working tomorrow all day at the polling stations and a further 400 working at the four count venues through the night to get us to the result. 1,250 staff involved and I am very grateful to each and every one of you. Good luck tomorrow.

Speak again soon. For daily updates, discussion, personal opinion, comment or just to connect or keep in touch you can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/drcarltonbrand.

Carlton”