Reds Rising
There was widespread shock at the election results for OUSU Executive and Council Delegates this week as it was revealed that Communist candidates had made large gains.
Despite not submitting a manifesto or 'hacking', Costas Pateras was elected with the highest proportion of the votes to fill one of the ten OUSU Exec positions. His success, along with that of prominent anti-fees campaigner Jon Worth, well known OUSU face Sacha Ishmail and controversial character Jon Storey, has led, in the words of the latter, to a "very diverse" Exec. One other newly-elected member of Exec was less conciliatory, stating "It seems very strange that the top two positions were filled by a Communist and a loon".
Aside from the prominent success of Mr Paternas, Dan Hughes of the Young Communist League was elected with 180 first preferences as a council delegate. The Communist candidates were unusual in that they did not submit manifestos to be printed in the Oxford Student as they were entitled to. When asked to comment on their unexpected success, Paternas said that the successful candidates did not wish to court publicity as they had not been given permission by their "comrades".
Sacha Ismail, who was elected eighth onto Exec, welcomed the election of Communist candidates, saying "Communists are good, although I don't know if Costas is a real Communist". Jon Storey, who was elected second, told the Oxford Student that he "was not overly concerned to be beaten by a Communist", adding "I'm just glad to have been elected, and I didn't really mind what position I was in".
The election of tweed-suited gentleman Mr Storey has not been without controversy: it has been suggested by many involved in OUSU that the title of his slate, Grants Not Fees, was misleading. Sacha Ismail commented that Storey's involvement in the anti-fees campaign had been "extremely limited". Storey responded claiming that his two attempts to enter last week's occupation had been unsuccessful, his entry at one point being blocked by "a high-up OUSU insider". He added, however, that "the first time it was fair enough because I was pissed, but then again they were letting people in that were more pissed than me."
On a more serious note Storey suggested that the huge support for the anti-fees and Communist candidates suggests real enthusiasm for such a political inclination within the student body. "There is obviously a mandate for the Communists to act within the Students' Union as there is a mandate for my manifesto."
Defending his use of the slate title "Grants not Fees", he admitted that he had "doubts about the effectiveness of the campaign." He continued "there are other ways in which it could work. I would prefer consultation rather than confrontation."
Further controversy was caused by the result of the so-called "one member one vote" referendum, the outcome of which was to reject the proposal of allowing every full member to vote at OUSU council. The proposal was only narrowly defeated although all colleges but three voted against it .
Raph Mokades, recently resigned JCR President of St Hugh's, commented on his college's resounding "yes" vote by saying "we have had lots of problems with OUSU in the past: council is too long and there are too many nutters there. People are alienated by OUSU as it does not do enough entz or have anything to do with sport." He added " I think if the franchise were extended people from St Hugh's would vote".
Asked to confirm rumours that St Hugh's wished to disaffiliate from OUSU he said "I don't see what good it would do, but then I don't really see what use being a part of such an absurd institution is. Our JCR is very active and fulfils a lot of the same functions OUSU does. There are certainly factions who wish to disaffiliate."
Arguably the greatest success of the election was the "United for Progress" slate.
With the exception of Barney Sandell, the presidential candidate for whom the result is not yet known, all of the members were elected with a high proportion of the votes cast: Jon Worth was elected with the third highest proportion,and Mary Stevens seventh.
Eleanor Fletcher, the United for Progress delegate candidate, was elected with the highest proportion of the vote. Barney Sandell expressed his delight at this result, saying "I'm sure they will do a good job and I hope I can join them".
18th Nov 1999