We have a PR system in Ireland, not perfect by any means, but if forces those in power to listen to things that concern people and, to a degree, respond to them
We have a system in Britain that does that as well. After decades of no-one listening to the calls to change or leave the EU (mainly ignored because both of the main parliamentary parties were in favour of staying) people started voting for UKIP.
Enough did this that the only way the conservatives could avoid losing masses of votes was to promise a referendum.
The result of the referendum is that we are leaving the EU.
The populace has spoken. A portion of them spoke to leave, a smaller portion spoke to remain. Such is democracy. Of those who chose not to speak we can make no valid assumptions. The split may have followed that of those that voted, or it may have been noticeably different, in either direction. Whichever is the case, it matters not. They had the chance to vote & chose not to.
Of those that voted, the majority were in favour of leaving the EU.

Scotland had earlier voted decisively to remain part of the UK, and as such were included in this, not as a separate nation, but as part of the UK.