We Went To The #BrexitParty And Here's What Happened

Leave.EU's official #BrexitParty went from sad spectacle to jubilant victory party over the course of a few boozy hours.

Supporters of the Leave.EU campaign gathered in London on Thursday night to watch the referendum returns, drink some champagne, and enjoy a few musical acts.

Jack Taylor / Getty Images

It was a strange evening that was at times jubilant, at times sombre, and at other times just a large press scrum around Nigel Farage.

The night started out full of anxious promise as two young Leave campaigners told BuzzFeed News they were "holding out hope" for a "silent majority" of Leave supporters.

BuzzFeed

They were optimistic but not that optimistic about a victory.

By 10pm, things hadn't really got going yet at the party, which featured lots of men in suits, loitering press, and nobody dancing.

Hannah JEUwell @hcjewell

Ain't no party like a #brexitparty

09:15 PM - 23 Jun 2016

There were, however, pointy Brexit hats.

BuzzFeed

There was also a slightly questionable cake.

Hannah JEUwell @hcjewell

really love the cake at nigel farage's #brexitparty it looks delicious doesn't it

08:41 PM - 23 Jun 2016

But soon enough supporters started to trickle in, so we asked them how they were feeling so far.

Aileen Quinton, seen here on the right, is a volunteer with the Leave campaign. She started out the night uncertain things would go her way.

BuzzFeed

"Even if the worst happens," she said, describing a potential Remain victory, "people can't dismiss opposition to the EU as a lunatic fringe – because it's a hell of a lunatic fringe!"

She said she was tired of people seeing being anti-Europe as an "extremist view".

"Opposition to slavery was once an extremist view," she said.

Another man – who didn't want to be named because he didn't want his clients in the City to know he supported Brexit – also had a cautious view at the beginning of the evening.

BuzzFeed

"I'm confident," he said, "But all that matters is that it's a close vote, because this is the beginning, not the end."

Brendan Chilton, the general secretary of Labour Leave, (seen here on the left in a moment of ecstasy), said he loved the way "people from all sorts of political backgrounds are campaigning together" to support Leave.

Geoff Caddick / AFP / Getty Images

Chilton said early in the night that he was hoping for a low turnout, as he'd heard this would be good news for Leave. He thought the stormy weather may have helped his side, joking: "The Lord stretched out his hand across the sky and sent a deluge to the remainers" in London and the South East.

Chilton's main reason for opposing the EU? "For me it's about democracy," he said.

He doesn't think the EU is to thank for securing workers' rights, pointing out that Britain has the highest minimum wage in the EU and longer average maternity leave. These rights, he said, "were won by the British, and the trade union movement".

"The Labour party will be shocked by how many of its constituencies have voted to Leave," he said, adding that the Labour party should be very worried about losing its supporters to UKIP in the wake of the referendum.

Speaking of UKIP, we asked Leave.EU co-founder – and UKIP's biggest donor – Arron Banks if he'd made any new cross-party friends during the campaign.

Jack Taylor / Getty Images

"I love all the Labour people, and I hate the Tories," he said.

He also said he thought Labour should be worried about UKIP in future elections. "Their traditional Labour voters have voted Out in a massive way," he said.

Oliver Huitson, a press officer for Labour Leave seen here on the left, said he thought the Tories would be in a better position with voters than Labour after the referendum, no matter the result.

BuzzFeed

"Where will 4 million Labour Leave voters vote in the next election?" he asked. (Four million was his own prediction.)

Huitson said he thought there was "potential for a northern Labour wipeout", in the same way Labour lost Scotland to the SNP after the Scottish independence referendum.

Matthias, a taciturn German and a rather unexpected partygoer, said he was supporting Leave because: "We don't need the UK in Europe."

BuzzFeed

"We want to get more united in Europe, and the UK are blocking it," he said, citing the UK's failure to join the euro or the Schengen area.

He was one of the last to leave the party.

Then Nigel Farage turned up, at about 11pm – before there'd been much good news for Leave.

Jack Taylor / Getty Images

Nevertheless, he was in a defiant mood, telling the assembled press that "the Eurosceptic genie is out of the bottle – and it will now not be put back".

Hannah JEUwell @hcjewell

thank god someone was here, me, to document this moment

Thu Jun 23 22:48:25 UTC+0000 2016

Then he retreated to a private room, telling BuzzFeed News along the way that he hadn't made up his mind yet about how drunk he planned on getting.

Hannah JEUwell @hcjewell

Asked Nigel Farage if he was going to get hammered tonight and he said "I don't know yet, we'll see!"

10:42 PM - 23 Jun 2016

Shortly after this, the good news started to roll in for Leave – particularly a massive 22-point win in Sunderland.

Geoff Caddick / AFP / Getty Images

And shortly after that, the mood of the party had a sudden upswing, at the exact same moment that the pound did the opposite.

Twitter: @weetabixharry

The cake, however, remained untouched.

BuzzFeed

By 2am, things had died down again, with most of the party relocating to another venue.

Jack Taylor / Getty Images

(Though Matthias was still having a great time.)

We decided to take our leave from the #BrexitParty, chatting to Oliver on the way out – seen here clutching half the giant foam letters needed to spell out "LEAVE".

BuzzFeed

By 2am, his mood had picked up considerably. "Leave EU!" he grinned. "We're ready for it!"

By 5am, Sky News, the BBC, and ITV had all declared victory for Leave.