Everything you missed at the Durham Union Mock Election

On Friday, 30th January, the Durham Union hosted a student party mock election at Elvet Methodist Church, inviting the respective society presidents of the Conservatives, Labour, Liberals, Reform and Green alike, to debate.

Each of the young leaders was invited to deliver a speech, take questions from the floor, and hear from other society representatives as part of their individual campaigns. They all took to the stage to showcase their political parties’ policies, and perhaps gave listeners (and Tab readers) an insight into what joining each society would actually look like. Let’s see if you’re convinced…

What did the event entail?

The Durham Union invited youth leaders from all five main political parties to represent their societies in a debate over pressing issues of the day, before the audience decided who was hypothetically best placed to tackle them.

The event was open to all and saw the venue reach near-capacity, widening the electorate, which chose the Greens as Durham’s winner. This was particularly telling as the Durham Union is often renowned for its right-leaning nature, given the demographic of many of its members.

The results

The Young Greens won by 55.2 per cent, followed by the Conservatives, with 19.9 per cent. The Liberal Democrats came third, with 9.6 per cent, and Labour scored 5.7 per cent. Reform UK came last.

261 people voted, and the event was open to all, broadening the Union demographic in what was a highly successful night for the Greens.

First place: The Young Greens (Isaac Short)

Chair of the Young Greens, Isaac Short, represented the Green Party of England and Wales, presenting it as the “true left-wing alternative”, focused on rebuilding public services, tackling inequality, addressing the cost-of-living crisis, and rejecting privatisation and wealth concentration.

Isaac’s speech strongly criticised Labour, the Conservatives, Reform and the Liberal Democrats. The speaker accused Labour of austerity and broken promises under Keir Starmer, stating “this is not a true Labour government, this is closer to a Tory one”. He went further, blaming the Conservatives for economic mismanagement, arguing “you’re the ones who got us into this mess”. Finally, he pointed to Reform UK for promoting division and extremism in a world that needs unity and compassion.

He briefly opened with immigration, arguing that other parties overly fixate on this, instead proposing a more humane system, while dismissing an open borders too. He stated, “Is our immigration system broken? Yes. Do we want to fix it? Yes. How would we fix it? With compassion”.

Ultimately, he presented the Greens as the party offering hope and structural change without extremism, in order to “make hope normal again”.  

Green policies

• End NHS privatisation, as energy, water and transport have failed. Services should be publicly owned, and run “for people, not profit”
• Invest in hospitals and primary care
• Guarantee GP and dentist access
• Increase mental health funding
• Place a paid counsellor in every school
• Raise the minimum wage to £15 for all ages. “Unless you’re a literal billionaire, I am not [taking money off you].”
• Re-join the EU
• End Right to Buy

He emphasised the importance of the NHS, as “people are still dying in corridors”, stressing the need to “rebuild the greatest achievement a British government has ever accomplished… We want to rebuild our NHS”.

The Young Greens released a statement on Instagram, stating “we are pleased to announce that we won with a 55.2% majority – thank you to everyone who attended and voted to support the DU Young Greens. Make hope normal again”.

Second place: Durham University Conservative Society (Sean Smith)

The Conservatives were represented by their acting-president, second year History and Politics student from South College, Sean Smith.

He argued that “protest is not policy, and slogans are not strategy. The Conservatives offer the clearest route for an economy that works, backs enterprise and manages public finances in a responsible manner”.

Sean criticised the Green Party’s approach to “fiscal discipline” as a “straight jacket”. He pointed to Reform UK’s “real frustrations over high taxes”, which ultimately “veer into isolation”.

When asked by The Durham Tab how he felt about the result, Sean stated “I’m very pleased that DUCUA finished second, and it was a far greater position than I anticipated. I feel this reflects that conservative values and moderation remains resilient among our student body”.

Conservative policies:

• Credibility in government is earned, not asserted
• Nearly 4 million new jobs created
• Employment rose – 74.5%, 33 million people in work by 2024; this was not accidental, but the result of deliberate policies to “make work pay”
• Meaningful tax relief for working people
• Biggest cuts to national insurance contributions – £900,000 a year
• Not “abstract fiscal decisions, but practical measures”
• Wages rose – national living wage up during Conservative government, lifting the pay of millions, boosting the earnings of up to 2 million people
• Real improvement in public outcomes – Schools rated Good or Outstanding up from 68 per cent under Labour to 90 per cent under the Conservatives
• Crime fell by 50 per cent compared to 2010 – not marginal gains, but transformational improvements

The Conservatives’ environmental goals centre on the belief that economic growth and climate responsibility are not mutually exclusive. They advocate a model of “pragmatic environmentalism,” aiming to halve emissions while continuing to grow the economy, arguing that prosperity and sustainability must go hand in hand.

They emphasise economic and strategic responsibility, positioning themselves as focused on stability and growth, in contrast to what they describe as Labour’s “taxation, stagnation and broken promises,” including criticism of the 2025 budget’s £40 million tax rise.

Their agenda includes abolishing stamp duty for primary residents and breathing life back into local economies, presenting these measures as part of a broader strategy to strengthen communities while delivering environmental progress. Sean argued “the case for voting Conservative is the strongest”, pointing to Labour’s “hypocrisy” in office, insisting the Tories offer a serious, credible alternative which promises economic dynamism.

Third place: Durham Liberals (Prem Raghvani)

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The Durham Liberals were represented by their president, second-year Natural Sciences student from Josephine Butler, Prem Raghvani, He argued that politics should be based on “freedom and fairness”, presenting the party as the balanced, economically responsible alternative that protests civil liberties, invests in education and the environment, and delivers practical results.

The system should be levelled so starting circumstances don’t define outcomes, arguing “you can’t have real freedom without fairness. Freedom means having the chance to build a life through your own effort”.

Prem acknowledged that free tuition is currently unrealistic due to public finances, calling for maintenance grants, and supported university research and mental health services, as well as the return to the Erasmus+ scheme.

“The current state of student finance is horrendous”. The party received heavy criticism from the other student leaders who pointed to the Lib Dem’s time in coalition during the 2010-15 government, regarding their U-turn and subsequent electoral disaster on tuition fees.

Liberal Democrat policies

• Strong stance on environmental protection for future generations
• Support for properly funded public services
• Focus on prevention in healthcare
• High-quality mental health services for students
• Tax super-profits (bank, oil and gas)
• Reverse tax cuts for big banks
• Windfall taxes on oil and gas companies
• Pointed to strong record in County Durham
• Opt-out free school meals, delivering practical improvements
• Supports infrastructure and Net Zero projects
• Attacked Reform UK for raising council tax after promising not to, and accused Labour and the Conservatives of damaging trust, with “botched promises and broken trust”.

When asked about the result, Prem stated: “Placing third, ahead of both Labour and Reform, confirms that our core message of Freedom and Fairness truly resonated with the room. While we avoided the flashy claims seen elsewhere, we offered a Fair Deal for all, grounded in economic reality”.

Fourth place: Durham University Labour Society (Robbie Bono)

Labour was represented by the Chair of the Labour Society, third-year Economics student from St Cuthbert’s Society, Robbie Bono.

The speaker had a difficult task ahead of him in defending the Labour Party’s incumbent position after 18 months in power. His speech, however, argued that Labour is attempting to rebuild Britain after Conservative decline, contrasting Labour’s “pragmatism”, with oppositional “populism”, calling for voters to stay loyal despite early changes.

He admitted that “I know that we have made mistakes”, but “I have never been more certain that a Labour government is exactly what Britain needs.

“Only the Labour Party has both the values to dream of a better future, and the pragmatism to make it happen”.

When speaking to The Durham Tab on Labour’s defeat, Robbie told us: “We knew this would be a challenge. Labour’s historic and well-earned reputation as the party of the young people has been weakened by the rise of the Greens. We must meet that challenge head on – not by rejecting the politics of hope, but by reclaiming it and making it unmistakably our own once again. The time for Labour to be bolder and more ambitious is now”.

Labour policies

• Belief in society and collective responsibility
• Strength measured by support for the vulnerable
• Long-term rebuilding requires patience
• Wage rises for low-paid workers
• Major expansion of workers’ rights
• Large house-building programme
• NHS improvements, including 5 million extra appointments, waiting lists down by 300,000, and faster ambulance response times
• Rail nationalisation
• Renters’ rights reforms
• Ending the two-child benefit cap (lifting 500,000 children out of poverty)
• Defends raising money from private schools (ending tax exemptions) and the wealthiest farms, arguing this is fairer than taxing working people

For Robbie, “we are already making a difference to people’s lives”.

The Labour Society criticised Reform UK as both hypocritical and populist, targeting Farage as a “career politician”, claiming the party fails when actually in power, with council tax in Durham County Council a notable example. He argued they create division, which prevents real change.

“You can’t just solve this country’s problems by tearing down pride flags or blaming immigrants”. He urged loyalty and patience, framing Labour as the only serious governing party capable of rebuilding Britain. Robbie made this message clear, concluding that “tonight is not the time to turn back. Tonight, you need to vote Labour”.

Fifth place: Reform UK (Xavier Hale)

Reform UK was represented by Durham student, Xavier Hale.  He stated: “There is a solution, there is Reform”. Xavier gave a rather comedic speech which pointed to Reform’s hypocrisy, and how he too, often disagrees with them. This highlighted Reform UK’s inherent divisiveness, and contradictions which run rife throughout the party.

He stated, “Reform is not perfect. Is it trying to be? Not really”. He added, “my party has its problems, but it also has its merits”

Reform policies

• Cut council tax, and then undoing this promise
• Proposes economic changes – cuts in taxes, spending, etc. He pointed to Pride parades and Lumiere in Durham as “luxuries”, emphasising the importance of “necessities” like bus stations
• Investment into renationalisation of industry, “bringing back industry we no longer have”. This is why we no longer have jobs.
• Immigration – “Don’t allow criminals in. If you’re not useful, bugger off. I know these are rich words coming from an immigrant myself, but the truth is, perhaps I should deport myself”.

Reform’s Durham society failed to comment on their electoral defeat.

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