‘Yes, We’re Young, Yes, We’re Women, And Yes: We Want Brexit’

Standing outside the library on Canterbury Christ Church University campus in Kent, Ellie Varley is cautious as she talks on the phone. ‘I’m keeping an eye out in case anyone can hear what I’m talking about. I’m quite nervous saying stuff in university in case someone overhears me,’ she says. The scandalous topic? Being a Leave-supporting student.

Her trepidation is understandable, if the stereotype of a student is to be believed – ie, left-wing with a Che Guevara poster on their wall – and the archetypal Leave voter is right-wing, male, pale and middle-aged. But after a number of young women were pictured at a pro-Brexit rally on 29 March – the day the UK was meant to leave the EU – it sparked discussion over whether young Leavers are still the anomaly. According to a YouGov poll after the 2016 referendum, 29% of under 25s vote to leave the EU. But last week, when YouGov asked that same age group what they thought in hindsight, only 14% thought we were right to leave, while the figure was 30% for 25 to 49-year-olds.

Ellie, 20, is the vice chair of Students For Brexit, a group which, she says, has around 5,000 followers across 48 universities. She’s also the chair of her university’s Conservative Society and met staunch Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg when he visited last year. ‘I respect him for being open about his views, but I don’t necessarily agree with them all – particularly on abortion and gay marriage,’ she says, before explaining that around campus she gets called ‘racist’ and ‘stupid Tory scum’. She’s pro-Leave because she feels the EU’s influence on the UK is undemocratic.

She hasn’t lost any friendships over her stance, yet, despite having more Remain friends than Leave. ‘Young Leave voters are difficult to find. There are a lot of us, but we’re shy about voicing our opinions.’ This, she says, is because Leavers are generally branded ignorant and intolerant of immigration. ‘It doesn’t bother me who comes to our country as long as you work hard,’ she adds. ‘But we’re branded as this thing before people have even spoken to us which is why pro-Leave people tend to keep quiet about it.’ Lucy Harris, 28, started a ‘secret’ social networking group called Leavers of Britain after she grew tired of the ‘social ostracisation’ she felt she received as a result of being pro-Leave. She explains it’s more like a secret society because many of the 5,500 members (1,500 in London) don’t dare tell their friends, family or colleagues how they voted.

‘A lot of people don’t want to come out as Leave voters and I’ve found that people don’t want to be photographed at events because they feel their social or professional lives will be compromised,’ she says. ‘People don’t want to speak up because of the negative connotations that have been attached to their politics.’ Nevertheless, these concerns didn’t stop some young Leavers feeling riled up and galvanised to go out and protest when the UK failed to leave the European Union on 29 March. At 17 and 15 respectively, Alice Grant and her sister Beatrice attracted attention as some of the youngest on a pro-Brexit rally in Westminster that day.

The sisters from West London have become increasingly involved with the Leave campaignrecently and have taken part in a number of protests. Alice says she’s happy about the publicity if it means people are aware that there is a young contingent of Leave voters. ‘I think we’ve been misrepresented,’ she adds. ‘Through my campaigning, I’ve met so many young people who want to leave. I get messages from many young Brexiteers who feel they have to hide the fact they support leaving the EU, because they get bullied by Remainers.’ Lucy says some of the members of her society say they’ve been treated differently at work since ‘coming out’ as Leavers. She cites orchestra musicians who say they’ve stopped getting freelance work; a teacher who’s been told to eat her lunch in the IT room at school and a civil servant who left his job after constant negativity from his colleagues.

‘At the events, people can build confidence to come out as Leave voters,’ she adds. ‘All the time, people are like, “If I told my family I voted Leave, they’d kill me,” or “I’m thinking of coming out to my work colleagues.” These are ordinary people in ordinary lives and I don’t think they should be getting stick for their democratic right to vote the way they feel; I was angry about that and that’s why I set up the group.’ Lucy and her boyfriend of three years broke up a few months after the referendum partly because of their differing political views – he’s pro-Remain. In general, the divisions Brexit has caused in society make her feel disappointed. ‘I’m from the Remain world: I’m middle-class, come from the arts, I’ve lived in London for a long time. I find it upsetting that we can’t just talk to one another. We need to find a way to come together.'

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