Owen Croft, Liverpool Socialist Students
I recently ran to be a student officer at the University of Liverpool, on a platform of scrapping tuition fees, nationalising public transport, and fighting the cost-of-living crisis. We didn’t win, but the election was a success in other ways.
We handed out nearly 1,000 leaflets and hung posters around campus clearly outlining the Socialist Students’ viewpoint. The campaigning experience also helped build the confidence of all involved – leafleting and talking to people across campus about socialism. It has built a basis to stand candidates in future student elections too.
Me and other fellow student members of Liverpool Socialist Party are standing in the local elections on 2 May.
Although there will be clear differences between running in a student union election and a council election, students need to get involved in local elections. With the workers’ struggle closely linked with the struggle faced by students, having young people fight to build a mass workers’ movement is necessary for a socialist future, and standing in local elections is a means to build such a movement.
I first got involved in Socialist Students in 2021 when I met two Socialist Party members who had set up a campaign stall on campus, to talk to people about socialism.
After talking for a while, I decided to go to the Socialist Students meeting they were advertising, and have been active since. Since joining, the student group in Liverpool has grown substantially and we now have a growing group of young, committed socialists – many joining the Socialist Party or having a big involvement in meetings and demonstrations.
