I have had a couple of emails telling me I should support staying in the EU or so watering down Brexit that we might as well stay in the EU because a majority of people in Wokingham voted Remain. Let me explain again why I do not agree.
The first thing to understand is my constituency of Wokingham includes wards in West Berkshire, whilst many of the wards in Wokingham Borough are in 3 neighbouring constituencies. We only know the referendum vote for the Borough, not for my constituency. I accept from the canvassing I did in the referendum that around half of my electors voted remain, and I have pledged to take up their worries and make sure their concerns are taken into account as we leave.
The referendum was the one time when an MP had just one voice and one vote like all his or her constituents. Clearly an MP could not be on both sides, and did not have to try to predict where the majority would be and vote with them. Once the referendum was over an MP of course has to do his or her best to represent everyone in the constituency, which is bound to include people of both views.
I support Leave as an MP on the basis of a double mandate to do so from the referendum and a General election. . The government and Parliament made it clear that the referendum gave the decision to UK voters over whether to leave or stay. I feel bound by the decision.
We held a General election in 2017. I made it very clear in my personal Manifesto that I would support and vote for Brexit in the Commons, both because it is the wish UK voters, and because I think it is a good decision. The Conservative party also promised to implement the referendum decision, and I campaigned as a Conservative candidate. Again I feel bound to seek to honour my promises about this important matter.
The results of the General Election in Wokingham were particularly interesting. Not only did I receive a majority of the votes cast, but Labour leapt ahead of the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrat candidate and his party made clear they did want to water down or overturn Brexit, whilst the Labour Manifesto like the Conservative one said they would implement Brexit. I conclude from the General Election that Wokingham voters either want Brexit or believe they should go along with it. They had every opportunity to signal they wanted to stop Brexit by voting Lib Dem, but the overwhelming majority decided not to do so.
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