Colleges' Political Leanings

Quote:
Originally Posted by Teebs
I'll just have to hang around wherever the Lib Dems all go or work on my conversion skills...

Mind if I join you? Lefties and liberals were an endangered species at my school.

You're welcome to. Actually, I know at least a couple of Lib Dem activists at Oxford Brookes, but none at our Oxford (although I'm sure there are some). I wonder how much co-operation there is between the two university groups...

Reply 21

Woman with altitude

What's the general poilitics like on a university scale? Are there active lefty groups around, or does it tend to be more on a college level?

Reply 22

HannahZ

4

I think uni is definitely a place for developing your own opinions. When you live at home you can't help being influenced by the attitudes of you parents, family and the people around you. Once you get to uni you read so much more, get to meet so many people from other places and backgrounds, inevitably it must help to broaden your experiences. It would be surprising if someone's political views didn't develop at all, especially with increasing maturity. I think it's important to re-evaluate your views especially when you leave home and try to decide what is actually your parents speaking and what is coming from you yourself. It's a time for becoming an individual in your own right with your own independently arrived at beliefs.

Reply 23

allymcb2

8

MatthewH

I think Cor's quite right, actually. I think it's healthy to change position as you learn more and see more of the world, and the more carefully you consider these things the more subtley you're like to shift. If you carry on with the same mantras after three years of being intellectually pummelled you're probably not thinking or just obstinate. Top people like the Miliband Bros are always saying how getting new posts or doing research jaunts makes them reassess their views, and I think that's probably fairly invigorating if politics is your bag.

Your views on certain issues may change and you may have more depth and subtlety. However you are unlikely to go from being right wing to left wing or vice versa unless you were very unsure of your position to start with, so college leanings could still be a factor.

Reply 24

allymcb2

8

HannahZ

I think uni is definitely a place for developing your own opinions. When you live at home you can't help being influenced by the attitudes of you parents, family and the people around you. Once you get to uni you read so much more, get to meet so many people from other places and backgrounds, inevitably it must help to broaden your experiences. It would be surprising if someone's political views didn't develop at all, especially with increasing maturity. I think it's important to re-evaluate your views especially when you leave home and try to decide what is actually your parents speaking and what is coming from you yourself. It's a time for becoming an individual in your own right with your own independently arrived at beliefs.

I can assure you I have changed my parents' opinions much more than they have changed mine, and my opinions are 100% independently made. So, again, speak for yourself.

Reply 25

pedy1986

13

allymcb2

Some of us are very sure about our politics, thankyou very much. So speak for yourself.

Well, I'm sure if you were to encounter people of different political leanings who were much more knowledge and able to express their political views to yours you would find yourself at least challenged to legitmately hold on to your views.

I have been massively influenced by others/varying writers - and think it really stupid to just say that you *are* left/right/centre when you have so much left to learn and study - particularly in an environment with people who are able to articulate their views very well. You might not change, but you might.

Reply 26

pedy1986

13

allymcb2

Your views on certain issues may change and you may have more depth and subtlety. However you are unlikely to go from being right wing to left wing or vice versa unless you were very unsure of your position to start with, so college leanings could still be a factor.

(and yes, mine did go from left to right after having studied economics and read a few pol phil writers - it wasn't because Iwas 'unsure' it was because I didn't understand the full picture)

Reply 27

allymcb2

8

I'm pretty sure right is right, and while I don't doubt my views will change, I doubt I will ever be voting for the communist party.

Besides...unless you know you are going to change, it would probably be best to consider the political leanings of your college as compared to your current politics. Personally it ruled out Wadham.

Reply 28

Peter_The_Great

4

Woman with altitude

What's the general poilitics like on a university scale? Are there active lefty groups around, or does it tend to be more on a college level?

Oxford, despite what you may think, is a very lefty city. Being a college town, there is major support for the liberal-left, so there are many Lib Dem and Green councillors. There are also various left-wing groups outside of the university that I've forgotten the names of, Subvert or something.

Reply 29

Teebs

16

the overall political situation in Oxford is:
City Council:
Lib Dems 19 councillors (+2 at the last election)
Labour 17 councillors (-4 at the last election)
Greens 7 councillors (+1 at the last election)
IWCA 4 councillors (+1 at the last election)
Conservatives *drum roll* 0 councillors

Parliamentary seats:
Oxford West and Abingdon - pretty safe Liberal Democrat but Conservatives in second. (majority 7638).
Oxford East - hyper marginal Labour seat with Lib Dems in second. (after boundary changes are taken into account the seat is thought to be nominally Lib Dem) (majority 963).

So essentially every single councillor comes from a party that is seen as centre left to one degree or another (the IWCA is I think, the Independent Working Class Association), and at a parliamentary level the Lib Dems will probably have both seats after the next election.

Reply 30

thomasjtl

9

do students generally vote in the oxford constituencies or their home constituencies in elections?

Reply 31

trina

1

You can vote both at home and at uni for council elections (unless you live within oxford citycouncil boundaries i think) and then you can choose for general elections as your college will register you. I voted in Oxford because I thought the seat was more marginal than at home.

@Cor, HannahZ and MathewH: i do agree with you and wouldn't choose my college based on politics- meeting people with different view points can be fun; however a considerable number of people do to choose their college based on its stereotypical political view and this means that the stereotypes become a bit self-fulfilling.

@Women_with_altitude (cool name btw) unless you are at an uber left/right wing college, you'll find almost no political groups within college. There are loads on a university level and I'm sure they'll all be at fresher's fair desperately recruiting as many members as possible *along with hundreds of other clubs and socieies)

Reply 32

PaddyMac

4

Peter_The_Great

Because, like it or not, Wadham IS a left-wing college and did play a prominent part in the anti-apartheid campaigns of the 1980s. Its still celebrated today since every college bop ends with the song "Free Nelson Mandela" being played even though he was released decades ago.

Perhaps you should be aware as well that I do identify with the far left in politics and would have strongly criticised apartheid if I'd been around to see it. Why can't I poke fun at my own college's reputation? Lighten up a little, student politics isn't important enough to take seriously!

I did warn in my post about two things:

1. I didn't know if I'd missed a layer of irony - which I had, considering I didn't know your own political beliefs or your college.

2. That there was a rant coming. Sorry again about that, since rereading my post I agree that I at least seem like I need to lighten up. In fairness, though, A good old rant helps to purge tension every now and then, and at the time it seemed like you were being pretty out of order as well.

Still, I don't think you really would have to be far left to oppose apartheid. Also, for the record, I'm not planning on getting involved in student politics and I don't take them seriously. In my post, I was taking apartheid seriously.

Thought I'd clear things up a bit. :biggrin:

Colleges' Political Leanings

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