Dr Rachel Minto

Publication

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Research

My research background is in EU politics and governance, with a particular focus on gender equality. Drawing on this, I now address questions surrounding Brexit and its implications for the politics and governance of a post-devolution UK. 

My current research projects explore the following areas:

- Gender equality governance across the UK post-Brexit;

- UK sub-state paradiplomacy towards the EU;

- Inter-governmental relations in the UK post-Brexit. 

Teaching

I am currently convening the following modules:

• EU Politics (Year 2);
• Politics and Governance of Brexit (Year 3).
• Cooperation and Integration in Europe: Themes and Debates (Masters)

I also teach regularly on the first year module, Introduction to Government, and on the postgraduate module, Contemporary Welsh Politics.

I have contributed to the following Undergraduate modules in the School of Law and Politics: Introduction to European Integration; Politics and Policies of the EU; Gender, Sex and Death in Global Politics; Legal Foundations ; Public Law; Law of the Internal Market; EU Substantive Law .

I have contributed to the following Postgraduate modules in the School of Law and Politics: European Law and Governance; Multilateralism and International Law; Constitutionalism and Governance.

I have also given guest lectures in the School of Social Sciences and the Business School.

My teaching has covered the following topics: various aspects of the politics, law and governance of the European Union; Brexit; post-devolution UK politics and governance; non-discrimination and equality; gender equality politics and governance.

I am also an External Examiner for Queen Mary University of London (from 2022).

Biography

I am a politics scholar whose research focuses on European integration, devolution in the UK and multi-level governance, with a particular interest in the evolving UK-EU relationship and gender equality governance.

Following a BSc in Physics (University of Birmingham), MA European Studies (University of Birmingham) and MSc Social Science Research Methods (University of Bristol), I completed my PhD in Politics at the University of Bristol in 2012, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). My doctoral research examined gender mainstreaming in the European Union’s coordination of immigrant integration. As part of this research, I spent three months as an intern at the European Women’s Lobby Secretariat in Brussels, gaining first-hand experience of EU policy-making and civil society engagement.

Following my PhD, I joined Cardiff University’s Centre for European Law and Governance in the School of Law. As a Research Associate (2013–2016), I worked on an interdisciplinary project funded by the European Research Council and led by Professor Stijn Smismans, entitled Law, Science and Interests in European Policy-making (LASI). My research explored horizontal governance practices within the European Commission, including integrated impact assessment, policy evaluation and mainstreaming.

In 2016, I joined the Wales Governance Centre as a Research Associate/Research Fellow, focusing on Brexit and devolution. In addition to publishing primary research, during this three year period, I undertook extensive public and policy engagement activity: authoring accessible reports and blogposts, featuring in podcasts, participating in dozens of public and policy events, and providing evidence to parliamentary committees in the National Assembly for Wales, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. In 2014, I co-founded the 'Wales in the EU Hub' which was a key source of accessible information through the Brexit years and I also developed 'EU Exchange Wales' as a forum for exchange between Welsh Government officials and Cardiff University academics (having founded this in 2013). By 2019, this network comprised c.100 officials and academics.

I secured a lectureship in Politics in the School of Law and Politics in 2019. I continued my research and engagement work within the Wales Governance Centre whilst also convening undergraduate and postgraduate modules (and participating in teaching more broadly) in my areas of research. After a second period of maternity leave, I became Deputy Director of the Centre in 2025, contributing to its research, engagement and wider development as a leading centre for research on law, politics and governance in Wales.

Alongside my academic research, I undertake/have undertaken a range of roles including: Board Member of the James Madison Charitable Trust (from 2025); Member of Steering Group to establish the Welsh Women’s Budget Group (WWBG) and subsequently founding Trustee and Vice Chair of the WWBG (from 2022); member of Welsh Government’s expert group on Regional Investment in Wales after Brexit, ‘Research, Monitoring and Evaluation sub-group’ (2019-2021); Women in Europe (Wales) network (coordinator as part of the Senedd’s Cross-Party Group on Women) (2018-2025); member of the Gender Network (part of the Welsh Government’s Third Sector Partnership Council) (from 2018); The UK in a Changing Europe’s Brexit Policy Committee (BPC) (from July 2018; Committee closed in 2020); Associated Fellow of the Centre for Constitutional Change (CCC), University of Edinburgh (invited, from 2016 to 2021); Trustee and Chair of Cardiff Women’s Aid (Trustee 2013-17 / Chair 2018-21); Editorial Assistant for the Journal of Common Market Studies (2012), Researcher in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor at the University of Bristol (2011-12); developing online teaching resources for the Oxford University Press textbook European Union Politics, edited by Michelle Cini and Nieves Pérez-Solórzano Borragán (2010-12).

Academic positions

From August 2023: Senior Lecturer in Politics, School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University

From November 2019: Lecturer in Politics, School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University

May to November 2019: Research Fellow (Brexit and UK devolved politics), Wales Governance Centre, School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University

October 2016 to April 2019: Research Associate Fellow (Brexit and UK devolved politics), Wales Governance Centre, School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University

January 2013 to September 2016: Research Associate, School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University

Speaking engagements

Selected 

Wales and the Referendum on EU Membership: A Decade On — Public event, Pierhead Building in Cardiff, 2026
Panellist at a public event reflecting on ten years since the EU referendum and its implications for Wales and the UK–EU relationship.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, Scottish Parliament — Evidence session, Edinburgh (online), 2025
Gave oral evidence on transparency in intergovernmental relations and its implications for parliamentary scrutiny.

Political Studies Association Annual Conference — Oxford, 2026
Presented co-authored research (Minto, Parken and Hibbs) on feminist institutional perspectives on equality mainstreaming in the Welsh Parliament

Cardiff University Senior Staff Post-Election Briefing — Cardiff, 2026
Contributed to a briefing on Looking back at Senedd 26 – Looking forward to a new politics in Wales, with Dr Jac Larner and Professor Laura McAllister.

Cardiff Business School Summer School — 2026
Chaired a Summer School panel on Uncertainty, the Future, and Better Decision-Making, bringing together academic, policy and public-service perspectives including from the Vice-Chancellor and Wales' Future Generations Commissioner.

From Global Convention to a City for CEDAW — International conference, Cardiff, 2025
Co-organised and chaired an international conference marking 40 years since the UK’s ratification of CEDAW (Convention for the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women)

Wales Governance Centre Annual Conference — Cardiff, 2025
Presented research on the de-Europeanisation of UK civil society post-Brexit, with Professor Dan Wincott.

University of Guadalajara — Keynote, Mexico (online), 2023
Delivered a keynote address at the inaugural ceremony of the Master's programme in International Relations of Local Actors and Governments.

Committees and reviewing

From 2025: Deputy Director of the Wales Governance Centre

- Acting Director for the academic year 2025/26

2025-26: POLIR lead for LAWPL’s Athena Swan application

2023-24: Deputy Director of Research Funding

2023: Member of the School’s Research Funding Task and Finish Group

2019-21: Member of School’s Extenuating Circumstances Committee (Y2 Politics)

2015-20: Member of School’s Research Committee

2013 to 2020: Member of School’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee

2018: Member of the School’s Research Environment Sub-Committee

2014-2015: School representative on Cardiff University Research Staff Association (CURSA)

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I regularly contribute to the peer-review process for leading journals across politics, European studies, gender and feminist scholarship, governance, political economy and regional studies. My reviewing experience includes work for journals including: European Journal of Politics and Gender; Territory, Politics, Governance; Journal of Common Market Studies; Parliamentary Affairs; Politics and Gender; Journal of European Integration; International Feminist Journal of Politics and British Journal of Politics and International Relations.

Supervisions

I am interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of:

• Gender equality politics and governance
• Brexit and EU-UK relations
• Brexit and devolution

Current supervision

David Hughes

News articles

Landmark conference marks 40 years since the UK’s ratification of CEDAW – an International Bill of Rights for Women

27 March 2026

Standfirst: Members of a UN committee for eliminating discrimination against women visit Cardiff as it repledges its commitment as Europe’s first ‘City for CEDAW’

A Family-Friendly and Inclusive Senedd: Cardiff University academics evaluate representation and participation in the Welsh parliament

17 March 2026

Interviews and surveys explored the barriers and challenges of serving as a Member of the Senedd (MS)

An equal and just transition to Net Zero in Wales

07 June 2023

A report by Cardiff University academics shows that urgent action is needed to ensure a just transition to Net Zero in Wales.

University experts line up for Hay Festival

21 May 2018

Cardiff Series: Trump, terror, language learning, lightning and a genetic disorder

Brexit and the devolved nations

17 October 2017

Cross-nations panel event held in Brussels