Exclusive: Union societies conspired to influence elections

The Buzz can exclusively reveal  the existence of a secret 'G7' society, which is threatening democracy across UCL societies.

Last week an anonymous source from within the Conservative Society alerted us to the existence of a secretive organisation consisting of the Presidents of UCL's seven self appointed “most influential societies."

The Presidents declined to comment.

This ‘G7’ was allegedly set up in order manipulate the Conservative Society Presidential election of Thursday 1 March. However the scandal runs far deeper than any one society and it has been claimed that it was the intention of the seven presidents to manipulate the elections of a range of other societies.

In relation to the Conservative Society an exclusive screenshot from the group’s Facebook page shows that EFS President Hannes Ansorg had proposed flooding Tory Soc with new members before the AGM. This was intended to ensure his man, Adam Memon, an EFS Vice President, was elected President of Tory Soc.

In the screenshot above Ansorg instructs the other ‘G7’ members to “join the Conservative Society ‘til [sic] Monday midnight in order to be given a vote at the AGM.”

Shockingly this also appears to have been endorsed by current Tory President Sam Firth who co-signs the message posted by Ansorg and below adds a link to the Conservative Society AGM even on Facebook.

This strategy is likely to have been one employed in attempting to elect presidents favoured by the 'G7' at other society elections.

The cartel's ambitions seems to derive from their belief that they have a “huge outreach and influence on public opinion on campus”, as outlined in the screenshot.

This, they say, is to be used to “make positive change happen.” Presumably packing societies with members in the run up to an AGM in an attempt to ensure their candidates are elected President is an example of this "positive change."

The strategy, however, backfired after Memon withdrew his presidential candidacy at the Tory Soc AGM. Having been linked with corruption it would appear that he was unwilling to risk his reputation by persevering with his campaign. A blow, no doubt, to the aspirations of the fledgling ‘G7’.

Memon stated that he was "disappointed that people have tried to take control of the situation" and that the reason he decided not to stand was "in order to protect the integrity of the AGM."

Read Memon's response before the scandal was full revealed here. 

A Tory Soc committee member told The Buzz that, “it is clear that UCL has seemingly come to possess its very own corridors of power where back-room deals are seeking to undermine the democratic principles of the Conservative Society, with far reaching implications for other societies as well.”