Forge Press spoke to Ben Simpson who is running for the role of President in this year’s Student Union Elections. We asked him about his motivations behind applying, his plans for campaigning, overall manifesto and more!
Ben’s motivation to run for the role came from “ I essentially did a campaign two years ago. I helped on someone’s campaign team. I found it a wonderful experience. Since then, I’ve had tons and tons of experience in the local community, on a placement year, working in societies, running social enterprise businesses, run by students. And I’ve decided I could potentially bring something to the table for the student union, so that’s why I chose to run this time around.”
Ben believes the main issues affecting students at the moment is “the cost of living is extortionate. It’s not only just the cost of living during your studies after your studies, there’s obviously a massive scandal at the moment around student loans and the interest rates on average is about 7% for a graduate, so you have to earn around $66,000 to cover the interest around inflation rates. It’s not only just while you’re studying, it’s also after studying, which I believe is one of the biggest issues.”
We asked Ben to summarise the key points of his manifesto. He said “essentially, helping with the cost of living, ensuring that after university don’t get burdened by massive debt. A second point would be in regard to rental issues in Sheffield and as well as well being. 40% of students believe that combination isn’t suitable, so it’s around enforcing that and as well, working with local community providers such as the council in regards to improving street crossings, improving lights on the streets as well as working to improve NHS services, such as mental health support. My final point is around internally in the students union, election changes. Specifically, I want to introduce a new Student Union Council, one that has societies on it.”
Ben’s plans for his campaign are “meeting students, providing leaflets, which will give the information about why to vote for me. I will be answering any questions and meeting as many people as possible.”
The first thing Ben would change if he was successful in the role is “ I would start to formulate the second lower house, as well as some other election changes coming up straight away in September. This involves increasing election campaign cycles, letting people know in advance what days they’re going to be voting on, and increasing the voting time days as well as changing the rules in regards to SU Officers rerunning in elections. That can be done right away quite quickly, if I win.”
If given an unlimited budget, Ben would “I would ensure that all students can get help with their cost of living. So ensure that they can all essentially be able to live. While that could be just giving money to those who need it, obviously, some students are less fortunate than others. I would also use it to work out how to change the timetables to ensure that people have three days, they can go and work on top of their studies. I’d also change a little bit around the degrees themselves.”
One of Ben’s favourite things about university “has been originally being a member and then being committee member and our president of the Horror Society. Essentially we watched horror movies every week. I’ve met so many people here, but a lot of them have been at Horror society. I never thought that I would ever end up in a society like that, but it’s been amazing fun. I’m now leading a team, we’ve got nine committee members now; that’s the most we’ve ever had. So it’s definitely something I’ve been proud of.”
If Ben had to pick only one condiment to have with food for the rest of his life, it would be “ketchup: It’s my favourite sauce. I have some of it in the fridge right now, and I’ve probably had it every single day since I was 14.”
