Oxfordshire village votes to leave UK in symbolic referendum

An Oxfordshire village of 358 people has voted to leave the United Kingdom and now calls itself the Principality of Piddington.

The result was declared just after 7am on September 16. Of 312 ballots cast, 285 backed leaving, 26 backed staying, and one was spoiled, Royal Central reported.

Piddington sits close to the Cotswolds. Its ballot was held on September 15, the anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

The vote followed a government plan to house more than 1,250 asylum seekers at a Ministry of Defence site near the village. Most of those who would be housed there would be single men aged over 18.

In July, 96% of eligible residents agreed to hold an independence referendum. The count was quick.

Organisers pressed ahead after what was described as “deafening silence” from the Government over the 1,250-person accommodation plan, according to the Oxford Mail.

In constitutional terms, the vote changes nothing. A referendum here means a formal public vote, but this one had no official status and no constitutional implications and was described as a symbolic gesture.

There is no legal mechanism allowing a village, town or city to declare independence from the UK, the BBC reported.

Signs reading “The Principality of Piddington” — a principality being a territory traditionally ruled by a prince — were printed in advance and hung at the entrances to the village. No prince yet. No Princess of Piddington has been announced.

What makes this stand out is the thoroughness of the theatre. The ballot date, the overnight count, the ready-made signs: a small place borrowing the full kit of statehood to make a local protest heard.