Every time I talk to my friends about the Students’ Union, they always ask the same question: “What do they even do?” Beyond the weekly emails, the activities of the Union are a complete myth to the average student.
It has become increasingly obvious to myself and many others that the Union has failed to do its job. Whether it be Rep Elections hitting historic low turnouts, supporting a Portico revamp no one really asked for, or Sabbs failing to vote for a ban on oil and gas sponsorships for societies, it seems very apparent that there is a disconnect between the Union and us, the students.
It is only very recently that those at the top seem to have even acknowledged that there is an engagement problem in the first place, and even then, this does not seem to be an opinion shared by all.
At its core, the Students’ Union is, as the name states, a union. Its primary responsibility is to represent and stand up for the students of UCL. It’s written clearly in British statute: the Education Act 1994 states the primary functions of a students’ union to be “promoting the general interests of its members as students.”
Yet, instead of representation, all we get is a “Winter Festival” that looks more like the Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience, and a Ferris wheel of rather questionable safety. Layers of bureaucracy have obfuscated this function, turning the Union into a monolith that does everything from (under)funding societies to flying off to COP for no apparent reason.
It has always struck me that despite its name, the Union is often run more like a corporation. The Union is officially registered as a charity, meaning it does not have Freedom of Information obligations, and is run by a Chief Executive (John Dubber) rather than the democratically elected President. Despite the democratic facade, unelected senior management has an incredible amount of control over policy.
It is however, ultimately on us to stay engaged in student democracy and hold the Union to account. The Union, with its mountain of red tape, has proven itself to be its own worst enemy in change. We may moan and complain all we want, and the Union can try to boost engagement, but nothing will change if we don’t vote.
It is often said in politics that you must never blame the voter, which is true to an extent. It is not the student body’s fault that the Union and its elected officials have failed to properly represent student interests. However, if change won’t come from the top, we must do more to change it from the bottom.
The harsh reality that the students must come to terms with is that change isn’t coming because, to put it simply, we haven’t asked for it enough. When only two in ten students are voting in elections, the message to the Union becomes clear: “We don’t care what happens.”
The downward spiral of low engagement allowing the election of low-quality candidates must be stopped before it becomes endemic. Continuation of the bureaucratic, out-of-touch, and corporate culture in the Students’ Union will only serve to suck any remaining identity out of the student body. With the nominations now open for the 2025 Leadership Race, UCL needs an exciting, engaged, and ambitious candidate to get behind.
