A former Steinbach resident, who grew up in England says it is her opinion that yesterday's vote in Britain will be a very good thing for the United Kingdom long term.

Gill Cooper was among the slim majority that voted in favour of leaving the European Union. Cooper says this might bring some instability in the near future, such as what happened overnight with the pound losing strength. But she says with good leadership, it might put them in more of an enabling position than before.

According to Cooper, most of her family voted to leave the EU. She says it is surprising to see the divide, noting many Europeans come from similar backgrounds and similar upbringings and yet are split on their opinions. Cooper says most of the votes to stay with the EU came from Scotland and she suggests there will be ramifications from that country. And she says though results from the vote will not create dissension within her family, Cooper thinks it could cause issues for other families.

"I think at this moment everybody should stay calm and let's take one step at a time," suggests Cooper.

One of the advantages of leaving the EU is that residents will now have more say in whom they vote into Parliament, thinks Cooper. She notes in the last election there wasn't a lot of strong competition amongst political leaders.

"I'm hoping that we will start to see more strength now in the political leadership that we hold and I really hope that we get somebody that is actually passionate about Britain and about where they see it going," says Cooper. "I think that is something that's been lacking in the last years, we've very much had political leaders that were from a very academic background and it was kind of a good career move for these individuals."

British Prime Minister David Cameron has already announced he will step down.

Cooper says she sees this as an opportunity for Britain to become more engaged in export and rebuilding its industry. She thinks they were missing the core value of society, which is to reward the working man.

"I just think that we weren't getting any better within the EU and so something had to change and change is as good as a rest," she says.

For those who voted to stay, Cooper says she expresses sympathy but says to stay calm, as this won't have an immediate radical impact.

"I think if we all keep it in the forefront of our heads that it's a time of change which always brings about opportunity, it doesn't have to be negative all the time," says Cooper. "Take a breath and say, 'lets' do this' and make it good for the people and make it good for our future generations."