CS London statement on University of London Union elections.

Today will see the opening of the week-long University of London Union elections. ULU is the largest student union in Europe, an umbrella organization drawing in some 120,000 students from the unions of individual London institutions.

The election of incumbent president Clare Solomon last year has been of great assistance to the student movement in stepping up the fight against the Con-Dem coalition and its cuts. Clare has been an indefatigable activist, battling through smear campaigns from the right wing and taking the fight to the upper echelons of political discourse: most notably in her spoiling of Nick Clegg’s risible “conversation with students” and her stand-off with the execrable Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight.

A member of the Counterfire splinter from the Socialist Workers Party, members of Communist Students have many political differences with Clare, some of which we will elaborate on at another juncture. But we have no reservation in calling on all London students to vote for her as a further step towards another year of student activism. Her role in co-ordinating the London Student Assembly in particular has been excellent, and we in CS hope that the model of the LSA can be spread downwards and outwards to every college, school and campus.

We would also like to call on students to vote for Sean Rillo-Raczka as Vice President of ULU. A member of both the Education Activist Network and the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, Sean is a tireless campaigner who has also been integral to the functioning of the LSA as a democratic forum for fighting the cuts.

Finally, we would also urge students to vote for Hesham Zakai for editor of London Student. Whereas his manifesto is more London Student-specific and thus less overtly political, Hesham has also been closely involved with the LSA.