Between 24 and 27 March, the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) in Cardiff mobilised our forces behind comrade Alice Nicholson in the Cardiff University Student Union (SU) Presidential elections.
We had a bold message: we are campaigning for a revolutionary, not a student politician!
We ran on three main demands: open the books; kick capitalism off campus; and for student and worker control of the university.
The vote share surpassed expectations, with 984 people voting for a communist programme! This is 13 percent of the overall turnout of around 7,500.
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A revolutionary, not a student politician
In order to distinguish ourselves from the student politicians chasing careers, we made sure to campaign under the slogan “a revolutionary, not a student politician.”
We knew there would be a wide layer out there disgusted or completely apathetic to the SU, which acts as the unofficial student wing of university management.
At a time when 400 jobs are being cut and there is a genocide in Palestine, this is particularly outrageous.
Whereas all other candidates advocated negotiations with management, we made it clear that the only way to stop the cuts and break the links to arms manufacturers would be to build a mass movement of staff and students.
After just one day of the campaign, while we were having breakfast in the morning and preparing for the day, someone approached us and asked, “are you guys the Communists? I’m more of a socialist myself, but at least you guys have something to say!”
Many approached us to tell us they never intended to vote in the first place, but after seeing our campaign they changed their minds, and also got all their friends to vote for Alice!
Turnout for these elections is typically so low – around 10-20 percent of the student population – that the SU offered a £5 discount at a local bar if students voted.
We met many who explained they’d taken advantage of the deal without having looked into the candidates, expecting them to all be the same! They regretted not having learned about our campaign beforehand.
Bold campaign
Nine student comrades managed to give over 20 lecture shout-outs between them – a chance to stand in a lecture hall full of people and explain our programme.
For most of the comrades, it was the first opportunity they got at putting forward our ideas in rooms with such a large audience.
These were so effective that after the first day some departments began to ban lecture shout outs! We didn’t let this deter us, however. Many lecturers also ignored the new ban, even showing us support and wishing us victory.
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We also turned to canteens and cafés in order to reach students. If university management are going to throw up barriers, we are going to smash through them!
At one point, one of our newest members got cut off by security while giving his canteen shout-out.
Despite only having joined a week prior, he was able to calmly argue his case for a right to address the students about our programme. This only hardened our resolve to reach the widest layer possible with revolutionary ideas.
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‘Undermining student democracy’?
We also weren’t going to cower in the face of attack. Other candidates, trying to differentiate themselves from Alice, had to emphasise that they were in fact student politicians.
One particularly reactionary candidate had been slandering our campaign online for weeks, claiming we wanted to “shut down free speech at the University”, arguing that we should debate him.
So we took him up on the offer! A first-year student, equipped with nothing more than a camera and a bit of gusto, confronted him, called him out on his lies, and questioned him on his programme.
Unsurprisingly, he had nothing to say except hollow and empty phrases learned by rote, unable to seriously answer a single question.
A typical student politician – a loud bark, but no bite!
The candidate in question went running to submit a formal complaint through the SU for harassment!
Practically every other candidate, regardless of how friendly they were on the campaign, joined forces to release a statement lamenting the “undermining of student democracy”.
We invite our readers to judge for themselves the level of this “harassment”, with the video of the confrontation still up on our Cardiff Communists Instagram page.
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Clearly, unable to answer us politically, he resorted to bureaucratic organisational measures to try and shut us down. So much for democracy!
To us it’s obvious that, having called out the elections for what they are – a chance for aspiring student politicians to scramble over cushy jobs – we had upset the apple cart!
Doors opening
Throughout the course of the campaign (and with a little help from going viral on social media!), we found new fields and opportunities opening up that we hadn’t even considered before.
We were invited onto two separate podcasts, one that was entirely focused at the university for students, but also a local Cardiff-based channel, the Central Club, that was willing to allow us an opportunity to speak in our own words to potentially thousands of people.
We jumped at the chance! Any opportunity to reach a wider layer with the ideas of Marxism is indispensable. While the interviewers held the typical misconceptions against communism, Alice was able to challenge these skilfully.
Three days into the campaign, Alice was invited to speak at a lecture on the Soviet economy by a lecturer.
While the professor introduced the topic with the usual lies and slanders, equating Stalin with Lenin, Alice put forward the real legacy of Lenin and the October Revolution. They answered a 30 minute Q&A session from the students, having to defend our ideas on the spot.
Tasks ahead
For four days, the comrades threw themselves into activity, with stalls, postering, leafleting, approaching lunch tables, challenging Tories, and putting on meetings and socials.
The comrades in Cardiff are fully aware the campaign doesn’t end here. Ultimately, everything we did over the campaign was simply training and education in preparation for the big events ahead. We’re planting seeds that will germinate in the heat of future mass mobilisations.
We brought a couple of new comrades into our ranks over the campaign, and have made the word “communism” more appealing to a thousand more.
Our next challenge is to go out there and find those within that 984 who are willing to get organised with the RCP!
If you are reading this and voted for Alice, join the RCP today!
