┬áThis afternoon, Katie Evans and Georgia Hamer spoke to Barney Willis about his third election week, and what it’s like to run against someone you’ve worked with all year. He reports that the best part of running is talking to students, but that ÔÇ£running for president is really stressful.”
Barney says that he has “So much to do.” And the difficult part? “There’s no way of knowing how well you’re doing. You just have to keep going.”
Barney is the current VP for Societies, and is running for President this year. Previously, Barney has run for sabbatical office twice; once in his second year, where he was unsuccessful, and last year, when he was elected successfully. Willis says that there’s a lingering perception that “only current elected officers can run for President,” and he thinks that’s scared people away from the position.
Of the previous four years of elections, the only successful presidential candidates have been present sabbs.┬áÔÇ£Back in 2010, the Law President won the election┬áwithout being a sabb before and he did a really good job […] there’s no reason non-officers can’t run [for president].” Still, the perception remains; we reported last week that Faraz Alauddin dropped out of the race, and, indeed, each one of the sabbatical officers who could run for election (Elliot is disbarred, as you cannot hold sabbatical office for more than two years) was reported to have expressed an interest over the course of this year. No student submitted themselves for nomination.
So it is, then, that only Willis and Claire Blakeway (the current VP Heath Park) remain in the race. Barney has commended Blakeway’s efforts the last year, describing her progress — playfully — as “annoying”. Later in the interview, he adds that running against a single candidate is “weird”, because everything he does goes directly against Blakeway and vice versa. “It’s better to run against people you don’t know, as you don’t have any friendships on the line.”
Blakeway’s manifesto has been described as more ambitious than Willis’. However, Willis does not seem bothered by this: while he’s worried his manifesto might not stand out by comparison, he believes itÔÇÖs better ÔÇ£to have more achievable policies and deliver on those.” Of manifestos, he says that “there’s a tendency [for candidates] to promise the heavens,” and that he “doesn’t think everything [Claire] wants to do is achievable.”
He highlighted areas of her manifesto, such as a policy to open the libraries 24/7. “It would cost the university millions in staffing costs. I think if I had a million quid as a university, I’d spend it more wisely.”
But perhaps manifestos aren’t that important. “My manifesto isn’t the limit of my policies,” Willis adds. He says he wishes he could have added a policy to “audit” courses and make hidden fees clearer. “Students shouldn’t have to pay for essential course materials. If you pay tuition fees, that should be enough,” he adds.
Looking at current voter demographics, he describes the speed at which votes are coming in as “frightening.” “It’s frightening [because] most of the people who will vote for me or Claire or anyone will not have met us. Statistically, thousands of people vote in these elections, and we’re not going to be able to speak to 5,000 students.”
Voting closes at 5PM on Friday. You can click here to cast your vote, and here to view manifestos. Ôûá
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