As part of the first workshop organised for the Teaching Feminisms, Transforming Lives project, Prof. Fiona Mackay's public lecture, "Women, UK Politics and Brexit", looked at the gendered perspectives that were commonly overlooked in the debates leading up to the 2016 United Kingdom European Union Membership Referendum and in the developments that have unfolded since the decision to exit the EU. 

This lecture examined the gendered exclusions of the ongoing politics of Brexit, and outline the potential gendered consequences of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union for women’s rights (especially for poor and migrant women) and for women’s security (especially in the post-conflict jurisdiction of Northern Ireland). The referendum result revealed significant divisions in terms of age, education, social values, and location/region. It also revealed that the majority of women – including a large majority of young women – voted to Remain rather than Leave the EU. Despite the efforts of feminist academics and women’s organisations, Brexit remains largely unexamined from a gender perspective. Indeed populist rhetoric around Brexit as the “will of the people” has created particular obstacles for the political mobilisation of women.