FALMOUTH and Truro defied the rest of Cornwall to vote Remain when the county went to the polls in last week’s EU referendum.

The area was the only parliamentary constituency in Cornwall that voted to stay in the EU on Thursday.

Out of 53,898 voters in Truro and Falmouth - whose MP Sarah Newton was the only Cornish parliamentary representative to support Remain - 28,470 were pro-Europe compared to 25,393 against, with 35 doubtful ballots, or a majority of 53 per cent against 47 per cent.

This compares to the St Ives constituency, including Helston, where 54 per cent of voters voted to leave, and Camborne and Redruth where the number was 56 per cent.

Mrs Newton told the Packet she was “delighted” that the data had backed up her instincts about how people voted in her constituency, and the Cornwall Stronger In team of volunteers worked hard “to make the positive case for Cornwall and the country remaining in a reformed European Union.”

She added that it had been a pleasure to work with people of all parties and of no affiliation, “except UKIP.”

She said: “Last Thursday answered one question from which many more flow. Over the months ahead, as we reshape our relationships with European countries and the rest of the world, I will continue to do what is in the best interests of all the people I represent as well as our great country.”

Mrs Newton gave her immediate priority as seeking answers asked by locals, such as: how the Brexit campaign’s promises will be delivered, replacing all EU funding for Cornwall until 2020 and paying farmers ‘at least as much as they get paid now’; improving the lot of our local fishermen and women; reducing immigration without creating staff shortages; and replacing EU funding for universities for medical and other research, which currently get out more than we pay into EU research funds.

She said: “The organisations representing the backbone of our local economy, small businesses, wanted to remain in the European Union as they understood the benefits. So I will be doing everything I can to ensure that our local small businesses can maintain fair access to the EU - the largest free market in the world.

“Most importantly of all I will be fighting for a tolerant and big hearted, united Great Britain. Now is the time for us all to come together. Together we have important work to do - to deliver the security and prosperity we all want to see for our family, our community and our nation.”

In the St Austell constituency 62 per cent of people voted to leave the EU, in North Cornwall the number was 60 per cent, and in South East Cornwall it was 58 per cent.

Overall 182,665 Cornish voters, or 56 per cent of those going to the polls, supported the Leave campaign, compared to 140,540 for Remain, or 43 per cent, with 237 doubtful ballots.

The Isles of Scilly, usually part of the St Ives constituency, voted separately with 803 people supporting Remain, or 56 per cent of the vote, while 621 voted Leave, and in Gibraltar, which shares an MEP with Cornwall and the south west, Remain took 96 per cent of the vote with 19,322 people compared to just 823 for Leave. The small dependency which borders Spain also had one of the highest voter turnouts with 83.5 per cent, compared to 77 per cent for Cornwall and 72 per cent nationally.

A council spokesperson said the results only reflected those votes which had been cast on the day at polling stations.

They said: “The postal votes, which came from all areas of Cornwall, were distributed evenly across all six parliamentary constituencies. So this means that we can’t say how individual constituencies voted as such.”