“I’m not pledging free education or pledging to end world poverty, not that they aren’t important, but at the end of the day I’m one man.”
Ahead of Wednesday’s husting event in the Interval, Alex Walker invited the shefbase for a chat over a steak about why you should vote for him as the next Union President.
SB: Thank you for taking time to speak to the shefbase. What inspired you to run for president?
AW: Well I didn’t vote last year and that was because there were no candidates who really struck a chord with me, so I thought that I’d make an effort to change this and do something positive rather than grumble about it, not vote and take no part in it. Whether people agree with my policies or not, I’m just throwing them out there, so if someone does agree they have someone who will represent them this year.
SB: Your flyer in the campaign booklet doesn’t outline any of your policies, what will you do if elected president?
All my policies are outlined on my Facebook group page, but amongst them is my plan to organise a Founders Day, which is basically an extra day’s holiday a year in one sense, but when we will try to get alumni to come back to the university to speak in their own departments. This is so that people can network and be inspired, and then maybe have a formal ball in the evening as I really don’t think we have enough ‘dress-to-impress’ occasions.
Another of my policies linked to that is putting more emphasis on local charities. I really feel that instead of campaigning for arms deals etc, which is important, we can campaign for other issues such as homelessness which is a real problem here in Sheffield. Why can’t we hold more events, more fashion shows and stuff like that? We can raise a lot of money and make a massive difference on our own doorsteps.
SB: What is this I heard about the Guinness Book of Records?
I want to make this union a record breaking union by setting up a committee to help us decide which records are realistic. We could get sponsorship for this and it would be great for PR and also a really good laugh.
SB: Turning to a more serious issue, what is your opinion on the potential abolition of the Women’s officer?
Well I don’t think it should be abolished. The main reason for this is that women make up 50% of the population, well maybe even slightly more. In an ideal world I don’t think we would need to have a Women’s officer because it wouldn’t really matter. I don’t think the Union has organised an assurance that women’s issues would be pursued effectively if we didn’t have an officer. Rhe role seems to attract people that are good for the position, and with all the work that has been done in the past it is important. For those reasons, I would stick with it.
SB: Were you disappointed at the low voter turnout for the union council elections?
I did find it disappointing that people didn’t want to use their right and vote, but I don’t find it too surprising. The reason no-one votes in union politics is because the majority of us are middle-of-the-road guys and girls with no particular extreme leanings and the other people who want to represent us are CV builders or habitual committee members who sit on every committee there is. I haven’t and if you look are my early stuff, my about me section for example, I started out a bit ‘tongue-in-cheek’ but then when I realised that I was the only person who I thought represented people from my background, I started to take it all more seriously. It is important to vote, and I think we need to promote it more to encourage people not only to vote, but to run for the officer positions.
SB: With the election being split into two parts, do you think there is the risk of an even lower voter turnout in the second part?
I think it will cause confusion but will cause a better turnout on the first part of the election. I think we’ll get more people to show up just to vote on the referendum issue to make sure the activities and sports merger doesn’t happen for example. Equally it could go the other way; we could still end up with low turnout and a lot of people’s views being lost, and then getting a poorer turnout for the second part because people just don’t know what’s going on. It’s confusing when you have two elections and it makes it sort of boring when it goes on for weeks and weeks and weeks. People are going to be covered in flyers and posters everywhere! It would have been better to keep it all as one block, that way people will show up to vote.
SB: So why should students vote for you?
Because I’m just an ordinary guy like them. As I’ve already mentioned, I’m running this year because there was nobody representing me running last year, and while my policies are perhaps a little bit inward looking and focus too much on sorting things out within the union, they are realisable ones. I’m not pledging free education or pledging to end world poverty, not that they aren’t important, but at the end of the day I’m one man. What I can deliver is a clearer constitution, which is more accessible to everyone and will make the union more relevant.
SB: Describe yourself in three words:
Urm, [consults a friend passing by] a pretty straight guy.
Alex Walker was speaking to Andrew Burgess
