Imperial activists stand up to be counted
With only hours left until local election polls come to a close, three Imperial students and a College Researcher cast aside their calculators and descend on the streets of London to fight for your vote. Council elections, the defining battle for the governance of London's thirty-two boroughs, only take place once every four years and many wards are facing an unpredictable result in lieu of a changing political climate. The elections are essentially all about local government, however the perception of the main political parties and their leaders will also play a substantial role in today's result.
The four crusaders, all Imperial physicists, believe that they can give local politics a much needed boost while bringing new ideas and perspectives to the Council arena. In an age where young people are becoming increasingly disillusioned with politics, they believe that they can offer effective representation and campaign for the things that really matter to students and constituents alike.
Alex Guite (Labour), Alon Orbach (Labour), Richard BlackwellWhitehead (Green Party) and Tom Tibbits (Green Party) are all in the running and after an intense week of campaigning, are ready to face the ultimate test of public scrutiny.
Alex, a fourth year physicist, has been involved with the Labour Party since starting College and is currently Secretary of London Young Labour. He helped establish Imperial's Labour Society and has been an ardent follower ever since. "I realised that I fundamentally agreed with the values of the Labour movement, equality of opportunity and social justice. I think that since 1997 Britain has become a fairer and more prosperous place," said Alex, hot off the campaign trial.
This is evidently a view not held in quite so high accord by Green Party candidate and Pembridge Gardens Hall Warden Blackwell-Whitehead. Referring to the recent escapades within the Labour Party, he said: "I think voters will be put off by many things the Labour party has done; the war in Iraq, the bad management of the health service to name a few. Prescott and Clarke are just the icing on the cake."
Guite, Ex-President of the Physical Sciences Union and still heavily involved with Imperial Union, heavily refutes this claim and thinks the party still has much more to offer: "You only have to look at the Tory closure of schools for students with special educational needs in Wandsworth, which Labour is opposing, to see that it does matter who's in power."
Alon Or-bach, also a fourth year Physicist, agrees with Alex: "From tackling the massive shortfall of affordable and social housing through to fighting for better provisions for young people, it's Labour that's committed to improve our area, and whether elected or not I will continue working for a fairer Westminster."
Parliamentary aspirations appear not to be high on the agenda, although Richard would certainly not rule out such an opportunity if ever one presents itself to the Green Party. "I would love to represent the Green Party at any level, to be an MP would be fantastic" he said.
All the candidates are concerned that students are, in part, responsible for low turn outs and appealed to students to cast their vote. Or-bach believes that even undergraduates will be affected on a local level: "From the redevelopment of Southside through to the College's plans to build on the Queen's Lawn, there are many issues that Westminster City Council deal with that affect students at Imperial. Labour is fighting to allow residents to make their objections in person to meetings such as the planning committee that will decide whether to allow the college to build the portacabins and I will continue pressing for this and support the campaign not to build on the Queen's Lawn even when I'm no longer a student!" he said.
A full list of all candidates standing is available from www.electoralcommission.org.uk/elections
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