Why you should get political!

Late last year the comedian Russell Brand urged people in an edition of the New Statesman he’d been invited to guest edit not to vote.

It raised a fair amount of debate in all echelons of society – Jeremy Paxman concurred, suggesting that he, disillusioned with British politics, no longer voted, whilst Robert Webb claimed that his fellow comedian displayed ‘political timidity’ and advised him to ‘read some fucking Orwell’.

The Spectator’s Alex Massie labelled Brand ‘an adolescent extremist’, whilst Nick Cohen drew links between the Essex native’s call to violent revolution and the rhetoric of Mussolini.

Now, I must confess that in a previous, fairly facetious Tab article, I suggested that students shouldn’t get involved in campus level politics (though it was read by all of four people, so I’m not  worried anyone made the mistake of taking it seriously). I must also confess that what I am about to suggest is not similarly hell-raising – I don’t expect to be guest editing Ellipsis any time soon.

This article is not a lecture on how you should go out and vote, and even though I know which candidate I am for, I’m not here to plug his campaign. The man I’m backing should be good enough to win your hearts and minds too, if you’ll listen, and my plea is simply that: for you to listen to your candidates.

These guys have definitely got the message.

Should you choose not to vote at least know who it is you’re not voting for. Like national politics, which Brand claims you cannot affect, student elections impact directly on your experience at university.

But you can affect what happens at university.

These elections tend not to be directed by party politics – they’re just a mix of passionate individuals with innovative ideas and a desire to improve their university (and regrettably, those with one eye on a CV).

By taking the time to check out the candidates’ Facebook pages and manifestos, you’re doing yourself a favour.

You will, inevitably, have to wade through a morass of bland promises, popular buzzwords and vacuous statements, but you might just stumble across a candidate or policy that excites you. It is up to the candidates to win you over.

You don’t have to vote for the guy that regurgitates uninspiring pledges. Vote for the policies or the person who speaks to or will directly affect you.

meeting Deep in political discussion, no doubt.

The time will soon come when you will be bombarded by flyers, posters and campaigners outside of the library, and the mumbled phrase ‘I’ve already voted’ will frequent your lips. Often, people in t-shirts with horrific slogans will try to corner you and get you to vote right there, and we all know (and detest) the extremely irritating trend of being asked to vote in the queue for the Raz.

Don’t be pressured into voting (either through bribery or threats) but feel free to put the people on the street on the spot; take the initiative, and ask them about their policies, or for their stance on topics their manifestos fail to address.

bland The ideal candidate.

The University of Liverpool has a turnout of fewer than 33%, which seems small but is the fifth largest nationwide.

That means most of us aren’t being inspired to bother voting, or feel we aren’t represented by what’s on offer. I feel, however, that were we to take time to examine what candidates pledge, we would find much that’s to our liking. At the very least, examining what isn’t being promised may persuade you to be the one to offer it next year.

So that, then, is my plea – do what students allegedly do best and study; if not a manifesto, then at least some fucking Orwell.