Liberal Democrats Call on Adam Afryie to Resign over Brexit

Liberal Democrats in Windsor are calling upon the constituency's MP, Adam Afriyie, to resign over Brexit.

In the European referendum in June 2016, the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead voted convincingly to remain, whilst failing businessman Mr Afriyie strongly advocated Brexit.

However, responding to a letter writing campaign organised by campaign group "Windsor for EU", Mr Afriyie mysteriously claimed that Windsor Constituency had voted to leave.

Freedom of Information Act requests made by Windsor Liberal Democrats to both the Electoral Commission and the Elections Office of the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead confirmed that no such breakdown of the results by Constituency was available and that there would be no way by which Mr Afryie could know this curiously convenient fact.

When challenged, Mr Afriyie's office stated that their figures were based on a weighted average of the polling across Windsor, Bracknell and Slough.

"Such a method is akin to making it up," says local remain campaigner Aaron Chahal.
"No one can seriously believe that Harvest Ride in Bracknell Forest, but Windsor Constituency, voted the same way as Great Hollands, in Bracknell Constituency."

The Liberal Democrats say more reliable figures, using far more accurate methods, are available from the University of East Anglia, where psephologists have produced constituency forecasts for the country as a whole.The UEA figures show that Windsor probably voted 54% - 46% to remain, even allowing for different voting patterns from the Royal Borough as a whole. (1) (2)

Further information made public by the BBC and confirmed by Bracknell Forest's Elections Office reveal that in Bracknell the referendum was counted by ballot box, so that ward level data is available for the four wards in Bracknell Forest Borough Council, but Windsor Parliamentary Constituency. Together the four wards; Ascot, Binfield & Warfield,Warfield Harvest Rise and Winkfield & Cranbourne; voted 50:50 Remain / Leave with 12169 voters in the four wards voting to remain and 12618 voting to leave. (3) (4) (5)

"If Adam Afriyie truly believes Windsor voted for Brexit, he should resign and test his claims in a by-election. Otherwise he should stop providing his constituents with unreliable and misleading statistics. On the matter of Europe, it is clear that he does not represent a majority of his constituents" says Windsor Lib Dems' Richard Fagence.

Links:

• Windsor for EU

Sources:

1. Link to article by Chris Hanretty of UEA
2. Link to UEA data table of estimated constituency results - google docs
3. Link to BBC article on those councils where ward level data is available
4. Link to BBC data table of ward level results - xlsx format
5. Link to Bracknell Forest Elections Office ward level data - pdf