‘Joke’ candidate Louis Trup stated students should vote for him simply because he wears flip flops – and they did. Photograph: Alamy
A “joke” candidate was elected president of the student union at Oxford University final week. Louis Trup, who mentioned college students need to vote for him since he wears flip-flops, now represents 22,000 students.
In March, the University of St Andrews came inside 200 votes of electing a candidate who suggested students vote for him “since he has absolutely nothing greater to do with his time”. What is taking place right here?
Russell Brand’s recent critique of British politics went straight for the jugular. He argued that the political system was broken as evidenced by the refusal of younger folks to engage with it. The solution: maintain breaking it and build a new technique. These pupil elections propose that he is only half appropriate. The technique is broken, not due to the fact it fails to meet our wants, but since of the kind of men and women it attracts.
Our generation desperately wants to engage in politics, but we will only do so when the folks hoping to signify us truly reflect our character. David Cameron, Ed Milliband, and their colleagues who greedily eye the prime jobs, are all of the very same breed. They get a kick out of the intrigue, the machinations, and the power of politics. What they are significantly less interested in is folks. When Michael Gove and Tristram Hunt banter about the the new English GCSE syllabus, they manifestly do so without having actual kids in mind. Russell Brand is the polar opposite of these cold political machines and is exactly the sort of man or woman who would reinvigorate our democracy. The program may possibly be broken, but it is not beyond restore.
It is straightforward to dismiss votes for joke candidates as protest votes. But not like the current surge in assistance for UKIP, no one right here is protesting towards a specific policy. They are fed up with a personality sort. For that reason this is not one thing that will go away with a consultation.
Policies are critical, but they are ineffective if no person can be bothered to listen to the particular person presenting them. Boris Johnson is this kind of a strong weapon in the Conservatives’ arsenal because he is capable to realize success in which Cameron fails: he entices us to listen by virtue of having a persona. Even when we don’t like what he has to say, we even now engage with him. The jokes that joke candidates deploy work due to the fact they are suggest a sense of humour, a need to make people laugh, a persona.
Democracies need to be representative of the population they seek out to govern. In Britain this implies obtaining a lot more girls and ethnic minorities in parliament. But that is not sufficient. Far more of a specified gender or race will not engage young voters. Candidates have to also be representative of our character and personality. For this new generation, character is king.
The major political parties require to recognise that to engage with youthful voters and entice our votes, we require to see a lot more Brands and Borises.
Parties need to get note of what is happening on campuses all more than the nation. There are lessons to be realized about how long term elections will be lost or won. Our generation is interested in politics. We want to vote. Just give us someone to vote for.
Why students don"t laugh off joke candidates
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