► Students and the General Election

00/01 Policy

Valid AULUC 2006

 

STUDENTS AND THE GENERAL ELECTION

Proposed: Scott Rice, [ULU President]

Seconded: Justine Stephens, [President Goldsmiths College & ULU Executive member]

 

THIS UNION NOTES

 

1.        The widespread belief that a General election will be called for May 3^rd this year.

2.        A wide range of issues of concern to students that should be factors in the general election campaign, including, but not exclusively, the threat of top-up fees.

3.        That the 120,000 students of the University of London and its colleges form a potentially decisive block of votes in many London constituencies.

4.        That over 100 constituencies in London are classified as marginal seats.

 

THIS UNION BELIEVES

 

1.        That politicians of all political beliefs listen most keenly when their jobs are on the line.

2.        That Top-up Fees, Education funding and other student issues can be made major issues in seats where the student vote is sizeable enough to seriously affect the outcome.

3.        That a substantial number of candidates can be induced to oppose tuition fees in their personal manifestos.

 

THIS UNION RESOLVES

 

1.        To mandate the ULU Executive Committee to produce the relevant materials to enable member unions to conduct effective lobbying of candidates for seats where substantial numbers of their students can be proved to be resident or where a members’ majority is low enough (below 5,000) for the constituency to be considered marginal and has students resident in it].

2.        To provide materials for individual students to write to their MP’s and candidates.

3.        To widely publicise the responses of candidates.

4.        To conduct, with the co-operation of member unions, an effective voter registration campaign, along the lines of that conducted last year for the Greater London Assembly elections.

5.        To work alongside all interested bodies to secure as many commitments from candidates against student hardship in general and top-up fees in particular.

 

PASSED:  26^th January 2001