SU Spring Elections 2026 Interviews: Harri Paget, VP Welfare & Campaigns

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

Harri Paget, who currently serves as one of the Co-Disabled Student Officers (DSO), sat down with The Boar to answer questions related to their campaign. They elaborated on their plan as the potential VP for Welfare & Campaigns, emphasising accessibility in every aspect of their policies.

Why did you decide to run for this position?

After having acted as the Co-DSO in their third year, Paget felt that it was the “natural next step” to run to be a Full-Time Officer at the SU. They aim to make the disability campaigns they’ve already engaged in “more widespread” next year. They are passionate about “what the SU can do with student voice,” and want to focus on making events, like society events, more accessible to people.

Paget feels that their working knowledge of the SU, as well as the working relationship they’ve developed with the people in wellbeing in their tenure as DSO, makes them more “qualified for the role”. Moreover, they claim that some of their policies as DSO are very workable into a full-time role.

How will you seek to continue to improve mental health and wellbeing provision on campus?

Paget brought to attention one of the main policies outlined in their manifesto, which is related to mental health first-responders on campus. “I’ve heard anecdotes from people on campus having psychosis episodes and similar things, but community safety not being ‘properly equipped’ in their responses to it”, they explained.

“I think that community safety as 24/7 first-responders would be really important for people’s safety when on campus.” They then proceeded to affirm that they would like the University to take a more specialised approach to mental-health related issues.

Report + Support disclosures rose for the fourth year running in 2024/25. Are you concerned about these figures, and what more can the SU do to support students?

“It’s hard to not say you’re concerned about that sort of thing,” they reflected. They added that it’s important to acknowledge that if reports are going up, it could indicate that people feel more comfortable using the services, and that it’s good to gain feedback from the people that use them.

“What the SU could do a lot better at the moment is making the information about its services way more accessible.” Paget claimed that a lot of people right now aren’t aware of what specific services the SU provides. They also added that navigation on the SU website could be made a lot easier, like letting people know what the advice centre does, and that the whole website needs reworking.

The cost-of-living crisis is still affecting students on campus – even though the new Co-op replaced Rootes, prices didn’t dramatically fall for students. Across the SU-run outlets and the SU’s relationship with the University, what more would you do to support students with the cost-of-living crisis?

Paget emphasised the importance of maintaining the existing campaigns that tackle this issue, like the Free Breakfast Club. “It’s easy to take those things for granted when you’re stepping into the role as a new person, but if people don’t actively keep those things going, the whole thing stops.”

They went on to talk about the especially high costs of living experienced by first-years living off-campus, and highlighted a related policy in their manifesto: the university subsidising bus passes for first-years that live off-campus.

“I think that all first-years should be able to be on campus”, they said, but also realised that it may not be possible in the near future, given the ongoing renovations at various accommodations. Regardless, “without the subsidisation of bus passes, students’ ability to engage well with student life is harmed, which is another important aspect of welfare”, they said.

What campaigns would you seek to run over the next year?

Paget expressed a desire to bring back women and non-binary defense classes, saying that they were “really useful for people to go to, and a great community.” They also said it was important to keep successful campaigns going, and used the Mental Health Day event as an example.

They then talked about how they would want to do more to recognise the Part-Time Officers in the SU. “There’s been some massive steps this year in terms of connecting voluntary, unpaid roles with the rest of the SU, but I think more could still be done to facilitate campaigns conducted by Part-Time Officers themselves.”

They also reiterated the importance of accessibility, regarding the website and general understanding of the SU. “There’s a big knowledge gap,’ Paget said. “Welfare & Campaigns is quite a unique position to have more time to support students, like in the facilitations of their campaigns.”

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

You can also view a list of all candidates and their manifestos here.