Why was the BREXIT result a surprise to everyone?

With waves of unfettered immigration, lost economic sovereignty a divorce from the EU was inevitable.  I'm surprised frankly that the vote was as close as it was.  It's led to a volatile  market reaction, bad news, but it should have been predictable.

In terms of the U.S., the populist nature of the vote portends well for Donald Trump''s candidacy.  Yes there's an ocean in between the U.K. and the U.S., but the common thread is the understanding that the status quo is not working for most people.  Hillary Clinton represents a corrupt status quo, Donald Trump represents a bull in a China shop style of change.  The BREXIT vote tells you where a lot of people's heads are at on that choice.