At least five candidates running for NUS delegate were part of a secret conspiracy to control the agenda at this year’s National Conference.
Nick Miao Co-Editor-in-Chief
Image: Plant-based Universities
An investigation by The Cheese Grater can reveal that campaigners at the UCL chapter of Plant-based Universities (PBU) had been secretly recruiting students to go undercover as candidates for NUS delegates at the Students’ Union Rep Elections.
It is understood that the group’s aim is to fill enough seats in the UCL delegation to steer its policy submission to the NUS that favours a complete transition to plant-based food on university campuses.
It is unclear if students have been instructed by PBU campaigners to avoid mentioning plant-based food policies in their manifestos, but none of the candidates, including known PBU campaigner Alfie Hall, have done so explicitly.
Students were reportedly told that their manifesto was ‘just a formality’ and that they were ‘supposed to say random stuff to get elected’, which sources have criticised as ‘dishonest and harmful to democracy’.
The Cheese Grater can identify at least five candidates including Hall who are affiliated with the PBU, based on multiple sources and conversations our reporters had with its undercover delegates at last year’s Conference who, at the time, were less inconspicuous about their plan.
The undercover candidates include Alfie Hall, Inès Farcis, Mara Cruz Gutierrez, Nikki Hung, and Val Ceballos Vargas. A sixth PBU candidate has since dropped out of the race as a result of our investigation. It is unclear if more are involved.
On Wednesday, we sent out an email to all 25 candidates standing for NUS rep – an unusually high number compared to previous years – and received eight responses by press time, one of whom was PBU’s Alfie Hall.
We asked the candidates if they were aware of the PBU’s activities at UCL and whether they were involved in its covert plan. Seven candidates denied involvement, two of whom said they were aware of the PBU, but requested to remain anonymous so they can comment frankly.
Hall, meanwhile, did not give a straight answer and seemingly tried to distance himself from the PBU. ‘As you know, I’ve been a supporter of Plant-based Unis for a while now’, but emphasised that ‘there are many issues I am standing on’ apart from ‘climate-focused policy’, including demilitarisation, mental health, and the cost of living.
The PBU campaigner added that he disagreed with the framing of the question, arguing that ‘There are students that really care about sustainability that want to make a difference on a national stage’.
While candidates generally agree that climate action is urgent and necessary, four have directly criticised the PBU’s goal to completely phase out meat options on university campuses as ‘overly rigid and dismissive of the complexity surrounding food choices’. Another candidate said, ‘I do not believe PBU’s policies for fully plant-based canteens and cafes in university is the best strategy to fight global warming.’
Two sources from a UCL society where the PBU tried to recruit candidates also alleged that ‘[PBU campaigners] know what they are doing is against SU rules’.
Hall reportedly told society members that the PBU ‘work alongside the SU’, something the Union has denied. The PBU is not affiliated with the Union but is rather a subsidiary of the animal rights lobbying group, Animal Rising.
Union regulations state that external groups like the PBU must complete an external speaker request form should they wish to conduct any campaigning in Union spaces.
However, PBU campaigners refused to comply with this requirement when asked to do so after Hall dismissed it as ‘bureaucracy’, and was banned from the society as a result.
The society, which requested to remain anonymous, had since taken extra security measures to avoid PBU campaigners. ‘We untagged ourselves from committee posts, changed the room booking, and stopped announcing rooms for future events’.
It is understood that the Union intends to investigate the incident further.
The PBU employed the same strategy of planting undercover delegates at last year’s National Conference in Blackpool, but failed at the last hurdle when the plant-based food policy written on behalf of the UCL delegation was not selected by the NUS for discussion at Conference.
The PBU press office responded with the following comment:
‘Plant-Based Universities is a huge grassroots campaign spanning dozens of universities and supported by thousands of students across the UK and beyond.
‘It’s entirely unsurprising that many students are running for NUS delegate positions with manifestos mentioning sustainability – an issue that regularly features amongst top priorities for students.
‘We commend the NUS delegates who voted to support the transition to 100% plant-based catering at last year’s conference and look forward to – hopefully – seeing more changes that address student concerns in the future.’
Alfie Hall responded with the following:
‘As said before, this “secretive”, “covertly fielding” angle is creepy and strange.
‘At the start of this academic year I spoke with members of the Vegan/Veg Soc, Animal Rights Soc (for which I am a member) and supporters of Plant-based Unis about how people can make big changes on issues of that they care about at university, specifically related to sustainability and animal rights, and mentioned the NUS as an avenue and talked of my experience last year.
‘Each candidate you have emailed cares about strong climate action at universities as evidenced by their manifesto but is running on their own platform covering a range of issues.’
The sixth PBU candidate, who has since withdrawn from the race, responded with the following:
‘I appreciate you reaching out, I am proud to speak about my support of Plant-Based Universities but first I’d like to express my discomfort with the chosen verbiage of your email.
‘Firstly, describing Plant based Universities as “secretly recruiting students to go undercover as candidates for NUS rep” feels both hostile and like a perversion of the truth. I can’t speak for all members of PBU, but for myself, Alfie simply made me aware of this opportunity, informed me of what the role would entail and the positive change I could enact by putting myself forward for the position of an NUS delegate.
‘Whilst I am a part of Plant Based universities and thus identify myself with the organisations message of ending the climate crisis and promoting ethical and sustainable practices, I believe it would be inaccurate to insinuate that I have been “recruited” by the organisation or even that I’m going “undercover.”
‘As a [Ed. former] NUS Delegate yourself Nick, you are aware that to stand I was required to submit and run on my own manifesto with my own pledges which I will stay true to if elected by my peers at UCL.
‘Aswell, I am a student at UCL and thus to insinuate that I am going “undercover” is to take away my legitimacy as a candidate. Overall, I would like to make it clear that PBU encouraged supporters at UCL to pursue this opportunity if we were individually interested, and many members chose not to. The PBU group did not “recruit” members, as this narrative is implying.’
Students’ Union UCL responded with the following:
‘The Representative Election is run in accordance with our Election Byelaws and overseen by an external Returning Officer.
‘Any student can report concerns to the Returning Officer via the Deputy Returning Officer who will investigate.
‘More information can be found here: https://studentsunionucl.org/election-rules.’
Other candidates and the UCL chapter of PBU did not respond to a request for comment.
This article featured in the Digestive – Rep Election Special
