Left Lenin union
UCL Union - the place with Phineas in it — is this year the most left wing it’s been in ages. All six sabbatical officers — the full- time elected officers on £25k a year — are all, broadly, left-wingers; at least one iden- tifies as being an anarchist. The UCL Left gained a landslide victory back in March elections, which saw a record turnout. The unprecedented swing to the left meant that the two sabb candidates backed by Tory soc, Ava Lloyd and David ‘Brucey’ Morris were, as Trotsky would say, thrown onto “the gar- bage heap of history”.
Quit Stalin and get to the point
But what does this matter to ordinary students? Well for a start, UCLU hasn't been this politicised in years. The sabbs are openly talking about “liberation”, “march- es” and “strikes”; words only whispered in previous years for fear of upsetting the view that students unions shouldn't be about politics — a line still held by Tory society President Matthew Corner who has said the union should “step away from politics” But whether the Tories pretend to dislike it or not, politics is back on cam- pus. Keep your eyes peeled this year for mini-Trotskys and junior Tha- tchers running around campus, clash- ing on UCL Question Time and lamely trolling each other on Twitter. Ha- ving hardly any influence whatsoever in UCLU's elected bodies, Tory tactics this year will likely centre around Members’ Meetings and referenda; a suggestion no- dded to by Corner. Referenda worked for the right last year when their “Yes Provost” campaign came out top in preventing a Union no-confidence of Malcolm Grant.
On your Marx, get set, go!
The sabbs have promised us the heavens this year. Manifesto pledges include cheaper food in union outlets, new sports training grounds, the London Living Wage as well as all of the platitudes you could possibly wish for: more democracy, participation, engagement, etc. But what, apart from these public promises, has this left wing union got planned? £10,000 is to be spent on student demos in October and Novem- ber, with some of the funds possibly go- ing to a “solidarity bus” to shuttle students from poorer Higher Education colleges in the north down south for the march. The UCLU constitution is up for a rejig. Proposals see more members on Council, more power for “liberation campaigns” and voting taken away from external trustees. The Union has reserves of over £5m and last year saw a profit of over £300,000. In general, the sabbs are looking to spend spend spend, so be prepared for plenty of grandiose schemes. One thing is for certain: there will be mistakes and incompetence, of which we'll keep you well aware.