Wycombe MP Steve Baker was in Manchester for the announcement of the EU referendum results last week, having played a part in the Vote Leave campaign which saw fellow Eurosceptics Boris Johnson and Chris Grayling come to Wycombe to stand alongside him.

With the majority of Wycombe district voters choosing to remain, here Mr Baker writes for to Bucks Free Press readers about his view on the historic result and the voting preferences of his constituents.

He writes: “In the EU referendum, the UK voted to leave the European Union. For all the reasons I have set out, recently and over nine years, I believe the people of the UK have made the right choice for our country. We must now form a government willing to implement the dual mandate of the Conservative manifesto and the referendum result.

“We know the public took this decision seriously and that many people disagree. After a Remain campaign which relentlessly stoked fear and anxiety, it is not surprising people are fearful and anxious. That is much to be regretted. I am certain we have nothing to fear from becoming a normal self-governing country, making our own laws, trading freely with the world and conducting public policy on the basis of UK citizenship, not EU citizenship.

“In common with several adjacent areas, Wycombe District narrowly voted Remain. Wycombe District voted 48-52 for Remain. Across Buckinghamshire, every counting area voted the other way to the principal MP in that area: Aylesbury,Chiltern, South Bucks.

“Obviously, I was disappointed but I was also surprised: when campaigning in the parliamentary constituency, we found voters were overwhelmingly for Leave.

“We have results for Wycombe District but not Wycombe parliamentary constituency.

“Wycombe District is much larger than the constituency, including as it does parts of the Buckingham, Aylesbury, and Beaconsfield constituencies.

The finest level of detail available from the count mixes together results from across the parliamentary constituency boundaries. As a consequence, it is impossible to say how the electors of Wycombe constituency voted in the referendum.

“All my campaigning, and especially canvassing, suggests Wycombe constituency will have voted Leave but this cannot be proven.

“I believe this is an historic opportunity to renew our country as an optimistic, outward-looking, tolerant, liberal and internationalist democracy and I shall work to that end. I would encourage everyone to unite behind this collective democratic decision and to move forward with buoyancy and hope.”