{"id":686,"date":"2016-06-11T05:41:50","date_gmt":"2016-06-11T04:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/copyright.lboro.ac.uk\/crcc\/?p=686"},"modified":"2016-06-11T05:41:50","modified_gmt":"2016-06-11T04:41:50","slug":"women-dominated-eu-debate-welcome-break-tory-boys-brigade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/crcc\/eu-referendum\/women-dominated-eu-debate-welcome-break-tory-boys-brigade\/","title":{"rendered":"Women-dominated EU debate a welcome break from Tory boys’ brigade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Much of the coverage of the EU referendum campaign so far has been like reporting on the common room squabbles of a boys’ school. So it was a welcome relief when ITV\u2019s EU referendum debate<\/a> on June 9 offered a sharp rejoinder to the overwhelmingly male-dominated<\/a> campaign.<\/p>\n

ITV\u2019s fielding of five women and one man was a significant attempt to challenge the dominance of male voices ahead of the critical vote on the UK\u2019s EU membership on June 23.<\/p>\n

Analysis of the media coverage of the EU referendum conducted by my colleagues and I shows the marked extent to which women have been marginal so far, accounting for just 18%<\/a> of those quoted by the media about the campaign.<\/p>\n

The Remain campaign fielded an all-female line-up with Labour shadow business secretary Angela Eagle, Conservative energy secretary Amber Rudd and Scotland\u2019s SNP first minister, Nicola Sturgeon. The pro-Brexit Leave camp was represented by the former mayor of London, Boris Johnson, his fellow Conservative energy minister Andrea Ladsom, and Labour\u2019s Gisela Stuart.<\/p>\n

The encounter was anticipated by commentators as an antidote to the male-dominated debate and a deliberate attempt to neutralise Johnson<\/a> and, in doing so, to appeal to women voters.<\/p>\n