W-WOW Warwick Person of the Year 2024: Grace Lewis

Opinion Comedy Column

I must say that I viewed this year’s choice for W-WOW’s Warwick Person of the Year with some trepidation, approaching it fully aware of the history of this prestigious honour and the weighty burden I bore in selecting the person most deserving of it. I think, however, that most would agree that Grace Lewis, or Grace 4 Westwood, to use her official title, is that person.

The winner of, perhaps, this year’s most important election, Grace Lewis secured the City Councilship of the Westwood region at just twenty years old, leading the red wave in the Midlands in the 2024 elections. On top of this, she saw further electoral success as she won fourth place in the prestigious ‘Most Aura on Campus’ Warwick Grapevine BNOC competition. According to my extensive research, it is safe to say that in a year of big elections, Grace Lewis won most of them. Finally, despite having to balance the dictation of the culture and the maintenance of a very vibey Instagram account, Grace for Westwood always finds time to fight for what she believes in, as she continues to protest and raise awareness for important social issues that matter to her.

The result was hardly a foregone conclusion, however, and the title was hard fought, with a variety of celebrated Warwick figures being considered. Disco Dave was one of the candidates shortlisted and whilst he has serenaded us through many a glorious night in Pop!, the absence of ‘Angels’ by Robbie Williams at the end of every Wednesday has led many to question whether Dave has lost his touch.

The W-Wow Warwick Person of the Year award is not based on any value judgement, rather it is an assessment of impact and importance, regardless of whether that impact is good or bad

Min Rae’s neck was also considered, following its outstanding display of strength at CMD Sport Relief, whereby it quietly and without fuss or fanfare, supported the weight of a whole rugby player doing a one-armed handstand on Min Rae’s head. Some would say that the guy who did the one-armed handstand and the flip out of it that followed was more impressive. However, most would assert that such a suggestion is ridiculous, as it was Min Rae’s extraordinarily strong neck that did all the heavy lifting, notably without ever feeling the need to showboat, make a big fuss or be an acclaimed national gymnast.

I had the opportunity to talk to the man himself after the show and congratulate him on the strength of his neck. He informed me that he’d done a great deal of training to ensure that it could support the weight of a person balancing on his head. Undoubtedly, this training was worthwhile, as it was the most impressive part of the night and guided Rugby Union towards a Judge’s Choice victory at CMD.

Other compelling candidates include Lewis Day, the Warwick Cycling and Triathlon Social Secretary, and the man who singlehandedly saved Tinder Tuesday at The Tab. This icon had a chokehold on Tinder Tuesday for months, with cries of ‘I’m gay for Day’, ‘I want to seize the Day’ etc, as hundreds flocked to Tinder Tuesday every week to profess and confess their love for this great man. In fact, without Lewis Day it is hard to see a world where Tinder Tuesday would still be around as, for a while, Day almost single-handedly revived and carried the institution on his beautiful back. Ultimately, however, The Tab turned on Lewis Day and started suppressing various heartfelt submissions about him. Here, The Tab, and Tinder Tuesday, bit the hand that had fed it, cared for it and nursed it back to full health. Whilst the implications of this dystopian oppression of free speech are incalculable, the censoring of Lewis Day, here, does show the limits of his influence, which unfortunately led us away from selecting him as the W-WOW Warwick Person of the Year.

Of course, the W-Wow Warwick Person of the Year award is not based on any value judgement, rather it is an assessment of impact and importance, regardless of whether that impact is good or bad. For reference, evil winners of the TIME magazine Person of the Year award include Josef Stalin, who won it twice, and Adolf Hitler who won it in 1938. In that same vein, I considered putting forward the 23/24 Warwick Tories for the title, following their national socialist scandal in June 2024, however, ultimately, I decided that they could not hold a candle to the wonderful Warwick Labour icon: Grace Lewis.

Grace Lewis was, for me, the obvious pick. Not only did she master the art of standing somewhere holding a sign with people around her, she also dictated the culture throughout the year

The admin of The Wick Memes was also considered, following their years of sterling work delighting the Warwick community with their memes, guides, and insights for over four years. However, their presumed graduation and lessened output in 2024 led them to be discounted, as it would have likely served more as a heritage award- perhaps 2021 or 2022 would have been more appropriate years for their victory here. In a similar vein, The Warwick Grapevine admin was seriously considered for their tireless efforts bringing us regular gossip, quality memes and fun competitions. Their hard work in the last academic year undoubtedly brought further excitement, jeopardy and drama to Warwick life. Again, however, the Grapevine also retired in summer of 2024, thus limiting their chances of winning this great honour.

Max Pike should also be mentioned partly for his presumably remarkable work as VP of societies, or something like that, but mostly, and far more importantly, for his winning the aforementioned Warwick Grapevine BNOC competition, which was presumably the greatest moment of his life. I should also note the stellar work of Sofia Drake-Perello who came third, and I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise for splashing mayonnaise on her outside Bedford Street Jazz Bar – my friend and I were simply playing American football with it and that somehow went wrong, so, apologies for that.

Molly Palmer also deserves a shoutout following her fierce campaign for SU President, which failed despite the extensive over-marketing and alleged pressganging of her very passionate campaign team. One must also consider Enaya, the winning candidate for SU President, who saw victory in one of the elections of this year. I would also like to take this opportunity to apologise to Madam President for our one and only interaction outside Planet Bong where my friend and I tried to justify our spending of real money on a set of Dianne Abbot and Jeremy Corbyn masks. It was for a ‘masked ball’ theme, so…

Other aura-merchants who deserve a shoutout include celebrated musician and Instagram poster Cosmos Zero Aggodino, who could have won based on his name alone, alongside Tom Tennett, another Warwick icon, the friendliest man on the planet, and one of the world’s most committed consumers of purple. Other icons such as The Koan, Claire from the SU, the Westwood Moleman, the Zerfer, the Claycroft naked guy and the Warwick Olive Branch admin were also considered. However, they ultimately fell short of the political juggernaut that is: Grace Lewis.

Grace Lewis was, for me, the obvious pick. Not only did she master the art of standing somewhere holding a sign with people around her, she also dictated the culture throughout the year.

With 1,936 votes and 47% of the vote, Grace for Westwood saw the sort of electoral success that a 1997 Tony Blair could only dream of achieving

She is a deserving winner not least because of her political success, which rivals that of the Presidents themselves – Enaya and Donald, respectively. In May 2024, Grace Lewis was elected City Councillor of Westwood – the region, not the accommodation – following a vicious campaign of sign-writing and sign-holding, alongside extensive grassroots work. This hard-fought battle resulted in a Labour triumph over the Tory incumbent Asha Masih, as Lewis became the city council’s youngest member.

Ultimately, Grace Lewis’ win put further pressure on Rishi Sunak, as he lost yet another local election, and many cite Lewis’s crucial victory as the inciting motivation for Sunak’s calling a General Election, just twenty days later. Regardless, with 1,936 votes and 47% of the vote, Grace for Westwood saw the sort of electoral success that a 1997 Tony Blair could only dream of achieving.

Previous election success had already foreshadowed this crazy landslide, as Grace Lewis cruised to fourth place in Warwick Grapevine’s ‘Most Aura on Campus’ competition.. Whilst she saw less success in The Tab competition, this is probably because that one was, allegedly, rigged by robots, and Grace refused to stoop to such lows.

Additionally, having met Grace Lewis on a couple of occasions, most notably at the Big PAIS party, I have to say she has always been a class act. She is ever friendly, happy to chat and very good-humoured, overall, a very deserving winner in my books.

Finally, Grace Lewis never stops fighting for what she believes in, as she protested the suffering of Palestinians, right up to her graduation ceremony. Not unlike, previous TIME magazine Person of the Year winners Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela and Dr King, Grace is not afraid to protest and stand up for what she thinks is right. It is for all these reasons that I believe Grace Lewis is a most deserving winner of this year’s W-WOW Warwick Person of the Year award.

Will’s Word On Warwick is a satirical column intended for comedic purposes only.