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Reply 20

Anonystude
Oi, I resent that... :tongue:

Traditionally, Johns, Magdalene, possibly Peterhouse and Trinity are the right-wing colleges; Clare, King's, Tit Hall (to a lesser extent) the left-wing colleges.

TBH, there's a certain amount of truth in the stereotypes (certainly, I know a fair few right-wing hoorah Henry types in my own college) but mostly it's the vocal minority you tend to hear which gives the colleges their names...

although, of course, King's is full of raving Communist sympathisers who want to overthrow the Government and replace Cambridge with a comprehensive... :wink:



Peterhouse possibly? ;-)

Trinity - hmmm. "apathetically conservative" may be a better description. Note the small C.

Reply 21

Ditting Suck
Thankfully, however, no one implied that. If I can recall correctly (which I can, seeing as I'm quoting verbatim :smile: ) what was actually said was:

"the more private school students in a college the more its thought to be tory. Not that this is actually true at all"

This is true. It would also be true to say that people from private school backgrounds tend to be right-wing, but even this rather mild statement wasn't made (AFAICS).


Hehe, I remember back in 1997 when I was in year 8, and Blair got his landslide victory. My school also had a "mock election" with various 6th formers representing each party. While Blair was taking whatever massive majority he took in the real world, over 80% of the votes in my school were for the Conservative candidate.

It's true, the vast majority of people there and their parents were definitely Tory types (although my school wasn't really an "old money" place, so it wasn't really really rah). Little old me on my government assisted place (thanks for getting rid of those, Tony! :rolleyes: ) and Lib Dem/Labour family certainly stood out like a sore thumb.

However, I do think that despite people's views at the time (where most people's political decisions were based on who their parents voted for) a significant number have grown up and changed their own ideals.

Reply 22

Helenia
Hehe, I remember back in 1997 when I was in year 8, and Blair got his landslide victory. My school also had a "mock election" with various 6th formers representing each party. While Blair was taking whatever massive majority he took in the real world, over 80% of the votes in my school were for the Conservative candidate.

It's true, the vast majority of people there and their parents were definitely Tory types (although my school wasn't really an "old money" place, so it wasn't really really rah). Little old me on my government assisted place (thanks for getting rid of those, Tony! :rolleyes: ) and Lib Dem/Labour family certainly stood out like a sore thumb.

However, I do think that despite people's views at the time (where most people's political decisions were based on who their parents voted for) a significant number have grown up and changed their own ideals.


Last mock election my school had the Conservatives got 16 votes I believe. Greens had over 200 or something along with strong showings from various made up parties about school issues

Reply 23

From what my sister told me, when my old school tried to hold a mock election back in '97, the Monster Raving Looney Party walked it! Funnily enough, the new headmaster never took the idea any further ...

Reply 24

Perhaps it depends on the school... I went to a state and my school was almost entirely conservative... but i live in one of those working-class BNP/Conservative areas so its a little difficult to draw anything from that.

Reply 25

JohnStuartMill
Last mock election my school had the Conservatives got 16 votes I believe. Greens had over 200 or something along with strong showings from various made up parties about school issues


Last mock election at our school the Tories came first, with the SSP in second...

Reply 26

At our school Liberal Democrats (while Kennedy held post) won without question, followed by Greens and then Labour...

Interesting as we live in a conser. area! Though nearby cam is obviously lib dem...

Reply 27

At our mock election, Lib Dems won by a massive, massive majority, and I live in one of the safest Conservative seats in the country (Tatton, the seat that the Tories weren't far off retaining in 1997 despite the fact that their candidate had been exposed for accepting cash for questions).

It's a state comp, mind.

Reply 28

We had a mock election at my school once, the party that won was the one represented by a girl who always wore a colourful hat (she had more friends). Can't remember what party she was though, might have been Green...? We were all just too bewitched by the pretty rainbow colours to notice or care lol

Reply 29

At my school I think the Greens won in 2001, and the Loonies won last year. Apparently the apathetics are taking over from the lefties.

Reply 30

Ozymandias
At my school I think the Greens won in 2001, and the Loonies won last year. Apparently the apathetics are taking over from the lefties.


Yes, but if you look at who left in the last few years - Me, R, You, M+J, Rob, Adam, Carl even, were all serious lefties.

MB

Reply 31

Apathetics? Pah, I'm not apathetic about student politics. I hate it. I actively hate it. I get up early in the morning and start hating it diligently until lunch, then take a short break to watch the daily politics, then continue hating it with every available ounce of my strength into the wee hours, until I eventually fall into a restless sleep. I then wake up and remember how awful and pointless student politics are and - wham - the whole hell march starts again.

There are lots of things you can accuse me of, naivety, ignorance, a desire to be contrary (?), and a complete inability to find the right word when I need it. You can't however, put my opposition to student politics down to apathy. It's tough work.

Reply 32

essjaydee_88
Apathetics? Pah, I'm not apathetic about student politics. I hate it. I actively hate it. I get up early in the morning and start hating it diligently until lunch, then take a short break to watch the daily politics, then continue hating it with every available ounce of my strength into the wee hours, until I eventually fall into a restless sleep. I then wake up and remember how awful and pointless student politics are and - wham - the whole hell march starts again.

There are lots of things you can accuse me of, naivety, ignorance, a desire to be contrary (?), and a complete inability to find the right word when I need it. You can't however, put my opposition to student politics down to apathy. It's tough work.

I enjoy your point of view!

Reply 33

JohnStuartMill
Last mock election my school had the Conservatives got 16 votes I believe. Greens had over 200 or something along with strong showings from various made up parties about school issues


Yeah, but thats just posh pricks trying to give the impression that they are left-wing and that they actually really resent the fact that mummy and daddy pay from 8,000 up to 21,000 pounds a year to send them to a fine institution to do their A-levels. They would all die if they had to sit any exams in a revolting comprehensive in Liverpool or inner city London. And its all very well voting green after being dropped off in a disgusting gas guzzling 4.5 litre BMW x5 4x4 by mummy, who only really needs it to go to the shops and get her nails done. In a way, although i hate them i actually prefer the private schoolers who simply admit that they are overprivileged, sheltered and completely un-streetwise Tory voters. W**kers they may be, but at least they're honest.

Reply 34

I believe your maximum estimate on the private school fees may be a little conservative...try something edging a little closer to £30000 and that probably covers it!

But also - hear hear for openness and honesty. I myself am an unashamed reader of the Torygraph - Boris Johnson for PM and all that :p:

(No, I really am serious about Boris Johnson for PM... come on, you don't even need to be Tory to think that would be an *amazing* idea...?)

Reply 35

If by amazing you mean "absolutely disastrous", I'm in full agreement with you.

Reply 36

But just think of the AMUSEMENT VALUE, my friends! :p:

Reply 37

JohnStuartMill
Anyone know what Emmanuel is like politically? I resent the implication that private school people are right wing and tory......


Emma is generally one of the nicer, least snobbish and most politically apathetic of the colleges. However there is a politics and economics society, PolSoc, which puts on quite a lot of speaker events with quite big names (we had Norman Lamb and Tim Yeo among others last year), and teams up with the Emma film society every now and then as well. It helps that our current master was Cabinet Secretary under both Labour and Tory governments and so likes asking old colleagues to give a little talk and have a large drunken dinner with some of the students (free meals at the Master's house are *always* worth going to!). There are also representatives of each of the student branches of the three main parties, or at least there were last year, it is possible all our CUCArites have now left.

In terms of student politics the JCR/ ECSU elections tend to be very competitive although there is little interest in CUSU. However there's quite a lot of Emma members involved in the Union at the moment as well. There is quite a high private school ratio at Emma (about 55%) although I have yet to meet anyone there who fulfills a right-wing snobbish rah stereotype.

Reply 38

Britomart
I have yet to meet anyone there who fulfills a right-wing snobbish rah stereotype.


A certain ex-President of the Cambridge Union springs to mind.

MB

Reply 39

Anyone know what the politics is a Fitz, Churchill and Queens?

Cheers x