St Andrews full of posh Tory bastards, polls confirm.

But perhaps not as many as one would think. Zack set out to find them.

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A poll of over 13,000 students conducted by High Flyers Research has found St Andreans are most likely to vote Conservative in the upcoming general election. With the support of an estimated 29% of the student body, the Conservatives are not too far ahead of Labour (24%), the Greens (22%) and the SNP (12%)

The Scotsman’s comment section reacted predictably to this information (“Country-Club Kids”, “Kids from the Shires”, “The Elite Below Oxbridge,” etc.), and it’s no wonder that we are seen as a posh bunch. That there are certain demographic overlaps between a student body organising a charity polo match sponsored by a luxury car dealership and Conservative political thought comes as a surprise to no one. I interviewed several students to see if we really do live up to our labels.

Fourth year IR student Hugh grew up in Edinburgh and attended a state school there.  He told me, with all the wisdom of an IR student about to graduate, that he’d need to vote tactically to keep the SNP out of his Labour constituency.  Hints of a unionist Hugh, I then left him to laze in the sun.

I managed to get the views of a couple of my fellow students also spending some time in Drouthy Neebors on South Street.  Dylan from the East End of Glasgow was enjoying a pint when I asked his voting intentions for this year, as well as a bit of his background too.  He explained that he had been educated at a private school in the West End of Glasgow and got in with the help of a bursary.  “Trident’s a big issue,” he mentioned.  Dylan is planning on voting for the SNP on May 7th.  “We’re one of the only parties who make policies based on beliefs,”.  Presumably voting Yes in the referendum, a big issue for Dylan is that Scotland gets the representation it deserves down in Westminster at the very least.

Moving on to Patch, who I also met at the pub (it is week 11 after all).  Patch grew up in the Midlands, in England, and attended a state school.  Patch stands by most, if not all, of the Green Party’s stances on policy.  She mentioned that she was tired of “politicians’ bullshit” and wanted to see a more honest figure in the heart of policy-making.  Refreshing politics seems to be a main theme among people that I managed to chat with.

So, after yet more research in the pub, I was had not come across a Conservative voter.  I guess many of them were out on Daddy’s horses or something.  Or croquet, on such a sunny spell that’s hitting St Andrews?  Either way, it was an encouraging visit around town, after having low expectations of people’s political beliefs.  It seems that you’d have to really hit the right places to find the elite that had been researched upon (maybe the tea rooms at the R&A).  All in all, from my research anyway, politics is active in St Andrews, and that can only be a good thing.