Why are you running for SU President?
I’m running for SU president, because we desperately need to turn our students’ union into a militant, fighting union. Managment are cutting 400 jobs, closing courses and taking decisions that are not in the interests of staff or students. For too long the SU has facilitated management’s decisions rather than building links with staff to organise a fight back against them. It is no wonder most students won’t engage with this election, when they see the SU as incapable of representing them? Being SU President shouldn’t be a stepping stone for careerists, that’s why I will use the position not to negotiate with management or to facilitate their decisions, but build a movement of staff and students to fight back agaiant them.
If elected, what do you intend to keep the same?
I think the SU has failed as a union that represents students for too long, even this election has been barely promoted and advertised, there are over 30,000 students here, how many of them know about the election? How many of them will actually vote? The fact is, the SU has had little to no mandate for too long. It needs to be turned upside down and that means drawing in the widest layer of staff and students possible, so that there is a truly democratic and representative movement that can fight for the needs of staff and students at this university.
If elected, what do you intend to change?
First and foremost, the role of the SU. It should be a militant, fighting union, not a glorified charity for careerists to pocket a nice salary and then move on. If elected I will spend all my time building links with staff and their unions, as well as engaging students and encouraging them to organise in their classes and amongst their fellow students, to build a movement that can fight back against management, their cuts and kick capitalism off campus once and for all.
In what ways has your time at university influenced your platform in this election?
From cracking down on Palestine protests, to attacking staff and students, it has been clear to me during my time at the university that management run it like a business and not in the interests of staff and students. It’s crazy, because it’s staff and students that run the university, who work ridiculous and stressful hours, all while those on 6-figure salaries in management make decisions. This is frankly an injustice that needs to be resolved and that can only happen by building a movement of staff and students to wrestle power away from management.
When did you decide to run for the position?
When the university announced it was cutting 400 jobs and closing courses, I expected the SU to come out fully against it and organise some kind of fight back. That was probably expecting too much as the SU isn’t a union that fights for students, but facilitates the will of management. After going to the stage managed meeting with Wendy Larner, I talked with my comrades in the Cardiff Marxist Society and we decided we needed to stand. That’s why we’re running on a programme to use the SU presidency to build a movement of staff and students, because clearly things can’t be changed by one person through the SU itself.