Hard work is needed to heal rifts and bring people together after the EU referendum result, Eleanor Laing has said.

The Conservative Epping Forest MP, who announced she was voting leave on the day of the vote, said she was “pleased” with the decision made by the British public.

Across the country, 51.9 per cent voted to leave the EU against 48.1 per cent remain, while in Epping Forest the Brexit vote took 63 per cent.

Speaking to the Epping Forest Guardian today (June 24) at a centenary event for The Daiglen School in Buckhurst Hill, Mrs Laing said: “On balance, weighing up the pros and cons of each side, I decided to vote leave.

“I appreciate that we will now have to work hard to heal the rifts and bring people together.”

As deputy speaker for the House of Commons, Mrs Laing did not actively campaign for leave, but said the EU is “yesterday’s game”.

Today, she also said she was “sorry” that David Cameron had taken the decision to resign following the referendum defeat.

She said: “He has been a great prime minister, bringing in reforms that many of us have been working towards for years.

“He leaves a very successful legacy, a changed country with a very bright future.

“I think it is likely that the Conservative party in parliament and around the country will choose someone from the Brexit camp to be the next prime minister.”

The referendum was “an enormous exercise in democracy”, she said, with 33million people voting nationwide and a 77 per cent turnout in Epping Forest.

“The result was close and of course there are disagreements, but that is the whole point of the democratic process.

“In the UK, every single person in the country has the opportunity to express their opinions.”