LONDON: The "Remain" camp has an eight-point lead over those who want Britain to leave the European Union, according to a poll by Ipsos MORI, the firm´s chief executive said on Thursday, shortly after voting in the country´s EU membership referendum ended.
"We have carried on polling and have 54 Remain v 46 Leave today/yesterday," Ben Page, CEO of Ipsos MORI said in a message on Twitter.
Voting closed in Britain´s bitterly fought referendum on whether to quit the European Union, with a prominent Leave campaigner saying he expected to lose and early surveys suggesting voters had chosen to remain in the bloc.
Nigel Farage, head of the UK Independence Party and a leading voice in favour of leaving the EU, told Sky News he did not expect to be on the winning side.
"It´s been an extraordinary referendum campaign, turnout looks to be exceptionally high and looks like Remain will edge it," Farage told Sky News. A spokesman for Farage declined to elaborate.
The survey by pollster YouGov also showed Remain ahead by a margin of 52 to 48 percent. Unlike a classic exit poll, it was based on online responses by a pre-selected sample of people rather than a survey of voters as they left polling stations.