Students win council races

Several Warwick students stood for seats on district and town councils last week as local elections for much of the country coincided with the AV referendum on Thursday.

Patrick Edwards, a former Boar Money editor, was elected as a Conservative to East Dorset District Council, winning in Corfe Mullen South by just six votes.

Politics student Vicky Fowler was elected in a by-election in Barpool, to become the youngest ever member of Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council. A Labour candidate, she polled 1,034 votes, 500 votes ahead of the nearest candidate. Fowler is also the Chair of the Democracy Committee at the Student Union.

Unsuccessful student candidates included Bariş Yerli, a recent President of Warwick Labour, ex-Chairman of the Warwick Conservatives Jonny Cope, and the current Co-Chairman Kit Long, who polled 679 votes, the fourth greatest number in a ward with three seats. Long commented: “I certainly consider local council elections to be an important stepping stone as well as a valuable and enjoyable experience … The parties generally take a dim view of people who run a hard campaign to get elected and then disappear after a couple of years (forcing a by-election). You have to be committed to stay in the area and work for the community.”

The _Boar_ could not find any Warwick Liberal Democrats running for seats. According to one ex-member, “most of our membership isn’t particularly interested in running for council, and the people who do are often seen as career politicians, which isn’t something that many of us particularly respect”.

The success of many of the candidates could have been guaranteed with a greater proportion of the student vote. Member of the Labour party Alex Ash argued that the reason this did not occur is that it was “irritating” that Warwick students were standing for council at all: “Most of them clearly aren’t going to hang around for the full four-year term, so it’s a bit dishonest.”

Students’ Union Democracy Officer Chris Luck applauded the idea of Warwick students standing in local elections, arguing: “It’s a great thing that Warwick students are having an effect in politics on a national level.”

The results follow a hectic week of campaigning for members of the University’s political societies, who were out in force in Warwick, Leamington and Coventry on behalf of their parties and student candidates.

In the wider election, the Conservatives took control of Warwick District Council, gaining two seats, while the Labour Party increased its majority within Coventry City Council, winning five seats from the Conservatives.