Britain has taken leave of its senses and councils could pay the price. How did such a binary question turn out to be so much more than the sum of its parts? Will a reconfigured British state reflective of ruthlessly exposed political chasms now emerge? Where will the impacts of Brexit be felt most acutely?

In the days that follow the referendum result, none of these questions can be answered with much confidence. Withdrawal will take a number of years and we do not yet know who will lead the country in three months' time, let alone what divorce from the European Union looks like.