
Oli Coulson is 18, and an EU referendum campaigner in Cumbria. On Thursday, when he heard the MP Jo Cox had been murdered, he and his team immediately suspended their campaign. Two days later, he made the 260-mile trip to London, where he spent a grey Saturday afternoon standing in Parliament Square in front of the impromptu shrine to the MP.
It would be easy to mistake Coulson for a student europhile, or a Corbyn fan. But he is a dedicated eurosceptic – the director of Vote Leave Cumbria. Standing quietly in his smart suit, he explained he had met Cox, they had shaken hands. “She was courteous,” he said. He believed the murder will “change politics forever”.