Interview: Tristram Hunt

Warwick Labour rounded off their Freshers’ events with a talk from Tristram Hunt, Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, who was invited to the university to speak about the future of the Labour Party. After his talk, he spoke to the Boar about higher education policy, how the Labour Party can best engage with students, and his politics as a student and young person.

I begin by asking Tristram what he thinks about the progression of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) as it enters its second year. “I think we should support improving the quality of teaching”, he tells me, “so in that sense, I think the TEF has a good, solid foundation, particularly when young people are paying such high fees. But I don’t think you want to be too prescriptive about the nature and terms of teaching because actually, as you’ll know, some of the best teachers are idiosyncratic in their approaches.”

I think the public purse should shoulder more of the cost of higher education than the students.

However, for Tristram, TEF isn’t the biggest issue facing Higher Education (HE) right now, but the increase in tuition fees. He points out that “to go to £9,250 in a year makes us, I think, the second highest fee-charging country in the world. And I think Jeremy’s right on this” he says to my visible surprise. “I think the public purse should shoulder more of the cost of higher education than the students. At the last general election we had a policy to reduce fees down to £6,000; I think that’s quite a good policy.”

“So if you were now in government”, I ask, “what’s the biggest change you would want to make to HE?” “Well, that would be it – I’d reduce the fees” he replies instantly. “I would support foreign students in UK universities, I would take them out of migration figures – universities are great wealth creators and innovators in the UK economy, and they should be supported by public policy, not hindered.”

What you need is a mix of utilising the great university advantage you have, while staying proximate to the electorate.

We move away from HE policy, and towards students and politics; I ask him what he believes the most productive form of political activism for students is. “Well,” he muses, “I think the debate and discussion we’ve had today among Labour members in a fraternal environment has been really, really useful. I now think that what I’d like is for all these brilliant young people at Warwick to go off and think deeply about political economy, and history, and economics, and to think in policy terms, whilst also understanding where the public is by being on the knocker and delivering the leaflets. What you need is a mix of utilising the great university advantage you have, while staying proximate to the electorate.”

“And how”, I respond, “can the Labour Party best engage with students?” Straight-off, he tells me that “the Labour Party needs to be present and active on campus. In my constituency, Stoke and Staffordshire University is finally getting a Labour society! I think that putting national speakers and figures in front of students and getting them to challenge them is exciting – and after that, we need good pathways for apprenticeships and internships into the national party for students. And, you know,” he adds, “you also need a few good demos and sit-ins.”

I went to the University of Chicago and I saw what neoliberal economics does in terms of social divide – I came back to Britain, joined the Labour Party, and began working on the 1997 election campaign.

We round off by briefly discussing how Tristram’s political leanings were formed; I ask what was most formative for him as a student, but he tells me that he “was a very unpolitical student in activism terms. But then”, he says, “I took a course called ‘Socialism in its 19^th century context’, which helped me to understand the nature of Socialism. And then I went to the University of Chicago, and there I saw what Freidmanite economics, what neoliberal economics, does in terms of social divide. And then I came back to Britain, I joined the Labour Party, and I began working on the 1997 election campaign.”

We shake hands, and I let him head back to Stoke (although I did bump into him 5 minutes later trying to direct his lift to the Chemistry building – even politicians aren’t immune to campus roadworks). Tristram Hunt isn’t afraid to voice his view of what the Labour Party should function as, despite some of his beliefs clashing with a large portion of the party’s leadership and membership. Whether you sympathise with his party, his beliefs, or neither, Tristram Hunt is a commendable public servant – and quite the looker, too.