SU Spring Elections 2025 Interviews: Alijah Taha, President

In the run-up to the Warwick Students’ Union (SU) Spring Elections, The Boar and RAW 1251AM collaborated to offer all Full-Time Officer (FTO) candidates the opportunity to be interviewed.

Alijah Taha, the current SU Vice President for Postgraduate Students, and one of the candidates running for the position of President, sat down with student media to discuss his campaign. Through the interview, Taha outlined his key priorities for the role, including tackling the cost-of-living crisis, increasing the SU’s engagement with students, and continuing demilitarisation campaigns.

What are your key priorities, if you were to be elected?

Building on his work as VP Postgraduates, Taha stressed that one of his key priorities would be tackling the cost-of-living crisis. He said that on-campus outlets, such as Rootes Grocery Store, are “charging a fortune” for basic goods and that bringing down these prices would be one of his key priorities. He added: “[The outlets] are for the student population, so you need to price them according to a student’s budget.”

Another key priority for Taha would be expanding student voice and SU engagement on campus, ensuring that the SU is “the primary and the only advocate of student voice”. Taha said that he wants all students to feel that the SU represents them: “Their place”, as he noted.

What makes you stand out from the other Presidential candidates?

When posed this question, Taha was reluctant to compare himself to the other three candidates for the position, instead saying that he wants voters to focus on his own merits in the campaign.

On that note, Taha discussed his personal experiences, including how he hails from Pakistan, a country which he notes has no students’ unions. He expressed how this was a main motivation behind his “desire” to make Warwick SU a “proper union which is there for student voice and representation”.

He went on to add: “I think what makes me different is that I would say I’m not afraid of dreaming big, I’m not afraid of standing up for students, I’m not afraid of challenging the status quo. I’m not afraid of change.”

What is the biggest issue facing Warwick students right now and how do you plan to tackle it?

Reiterating one of his key manifesto pledges, Taha stressed that he believes that the cost-of-living crisis is the biggest issue for students.

Quipping that “I’m glad you don’t need to pay for breathing on campus”, he said that he would aim to tackle this through initiatives such as reducing prices in Rootes Grocery Store and demanding cuts to the cost of bus travel. “Me and Rootes cannot coexist,” he added.

Taha stressed that he has already begun work on these issues in his capacity as VP Postgraduates, adding that he is “hopeful” for costs to fall on campus. He followed: “[The University] need to listen to their customers. It’s a two-way street […] and it’s been so long that student concerns haven’t been heard in the proper way.”

How would you help create a more inclusive and accessible SU, especially for students from marginalised groups and lower-income backgrounds?

Taha began by saying that he wants to see the SU adopt an “open-door policy” for students, emphasising that the SU should “go out, rather than waiting for students to come in”.

He discussed how he would like students to be able to interact more with their SU, including expanding the SU’s presence in other areas of the University. He questioned why the SU does not have a room in Gibbet Hill Campus, saying that he believes “one full-time officer [should] sit in Gibbet Hill Campus every other day.”

Reflecting on work he carried out as VP Postgraduates over the Christmas break, Taha also said that he would like to see the SU introduce more events for postgraduate and international students to attend during holiday periods.

What makes you the correct candidate to represent Warwick SU on a national level, such as at NUS conferences?

On this question, Taha started by saying: “I think for anyone to be the right candidate to promote and represent Warwick SU at a national level, […] they should represent Warwick students and their concerns and what they want.”

He went on to add that he viewed the role of President not as a career opportunity for himself, but as “an opportunity to make some change and to carry forward some good changes for students.”

In addition to this, Taha focused on his previous experience in representing Warwick students at national events, including at a Russell Group Students’ Unions meeting where he helped to shape a manifesto point on reviewing “discriminatory” visa thresholds for international students seeking work in the UK post-graduation.

How will you seek to improve transport options for students, especially those living off-campus?

Taha outlined several ways he aimed to improve transport options for students, including the introduction of a “sustainable” cycle hire scheme on campus where students can rent a bike for the duration of a term for a small cost, rather than on an hourly or daily basis. He said that he had initially planned to bring forward the scheme this year in his current capacity, but that it had been “blocked”.

He also went on to discuss improving bus services on campus, saying that: “We need to sit and talk with the bus service providers in an assertive way, because we give them a lot of business. We need to tell them to meet the needs of our students, which are currently not being met.”

Finally, he added that, while he is “not in favour of unsustainable transport”, he would seek to reduce parking charges on campus, appreciating that “there are some students who genuinely might benefit” from these reductions. He said that he believes “increasing prices” for unsustainable modes of transport is ultimately counterproductive, and instead “better alternatives” must be provided to encourage people to use sustainable modes of transport on campus.

How would you continue to help achieve sustainability goals on campus?

Reflecting on the use of plastic cups during circling and also the Piazza screen being left on at night, Taha said that he would push to “set small changes which would have a huge impact” on campus. He added there is “no stop to pushing for sustainability”, as there is “always a need to make it better and better”.

He also added that he would like to see increased use of the allotment on campus, and a potential introduction of kitchen gardens for students to grow their own produce as both a “community” and “sustainable” activity.

How would you approach calls for demilitarisation on campus? Would you consider working on project such as the Ethical Assurance Framework that SU FTOs have focused on this year as a priority?

Taha said: “Absolutely. I’m very proud to say that I have been very pro students who have protested on these things.” He added that he believes students should have the right to protest over issues that some people might argue do not “impact our students directly.”

He went on to say: “Freedom of expression also creates freedom of thought. So, if there’s freedom of expression and freedom of thought, then you should raise your voice for people who don’t have that privilege, for people who are being killed mercilessly in the world.”

If freedom of speech were to be disrupted on campus, Taha added, “I would be the first one to retaliate, because I really am a strong believer that freedom of speech leads to freedom of thought. And if you can’t speak freely, you can’t think freely.”

As SU President, you are the student’s leading representation to the Vice-Chancellor. What do you think the relationship between the SU and University should look like?

“I think it should be a healthy relationship,” Taha stated, elaborating that he believes “the University wants to understand what their students want and try to accommodate around that” and that students “want a better university experience as well”.

He said that students’ demands need to be put “actively” in front of the University so that solutions can be made, but added that he felt from previous experience that the University is open to listening to the concerns of students.

He concluded: “I think the solution to most of the things is a dialogue, just to let [the University] know what students think, what our students want, and if it’s put forward to them in a good way, I think there’s nothing stopping us from achieving a change.”

How would you continue to support the SU drive to increase the institution’s transparency?

Following on from earlier comments about the SU’s lack of engagement with students, Taha said: “I think [the SU] needs to achieve a lot in terms of transparency.” He added that he believes students are not aware of what the SU does, and instead think “it just exists.”

He admitted therefore, “I think there’s a mountain to climb in terms of transparency”, but added that he would like to make the SU a more transparent institution, through making its processes more open to scrutiny from students. He said: “At the end of the day, if students can see their elected representatives, if students want something to change or something to happen, and if it’s transparent […] then they would be more engaged in the political process.”

Taha concluded his interview by reflecting on the question of transparency, saying: “I’m not sure how I would carry on with the transparency, but I am sure that, if I had to start from scratch, […] I would make the Union a proper union. I don’t see why it cannot be there, why we can’t achieve that.”

This interview, along with all other interviews for Full Time Officer positions, can be watched in full using the link here.

Read Alijah Taha’s manifesto here.