Candidate Question Time: Ben Anderson

Ben wants to go to Mermaids Ball another year, and be your Association President


Ben Anderson has a wealth of experience, having been a member of the student committee for first years, his work with widening access, and his work with student sub committee, Mermaids. He is enthusiastic about the town, town-gown relationships and working with the student body.

As soon as Ben joins me to begin this interview it is obvious from the offset that Ben is passionate about St Andrews, the students, and is truly dedicated to his campaign. Believing the strength of his campaign not only to lie in strong policies which will resolve the main concerns of the student body. Ben also feels a fresh face with new approaches will help him stand out from other candidates:”The thing I like most about St Andrews is how student driven the town is.”

Nevertheless, Ben is not here to delicately tiptoe about serious matters and discussion about the housing crisis begins immediately. By challenging the HMO ban and working closely with the newly installed Rector, Catherine Stihler, his plans for resolving this matter are systematic and clear.

“We need to know why the HMO ban was put in place and what we need to do to overturn it.”

Ben’s policies don’t just stop at the question of the ban, but by reintroducing and developing the policy of a union run letting agency. Ben believes it had fallen by the wayside and is nowhere near finished. Determined to see another successful attempt at getting this innovation up and running, Ben is confident this policy would be a success: “It’s had a lot of leg work done- it can definitely be resurrected.”

As for soaring house prices? Ben admits he’s no superman, but what he can try to change is quality: “A £500 box a month with temperamental lighting is not what you should expect. It’s something that’s very simple and very basic and we want to change that.”

“The union is very good at doing things but terrible at telling people about it.”

Ben’s concerns about the union are shown by the housing protest, describing it as a tell tale sign that the union is not doing enough to notify the students as to what it’s achieving. Ben want to see a bigger use of social media to spread the information about the success and failures of the union. Alongside this he also advocates that student presidents and leaders of subcommittees keep written records of their activities so that they are obtainable by all members of the student committee.

“By putting things together properly, the union will be so much more effective.” Taking into account his work in subcommittees, Ben is talking with good past experience in these matters.

Ben is a clearly a very serious man with very serious and effective aims, so we leave on a lighter note. Favourite memory? “I love Mermaids Ball every year” he grins. “I think the event is just fantastic.”