Thank you for reading my first blog, not something I had to do at Birmingham Guild of Students so please bear with me – your feedback will come in useful here! I hope through this blog to give you an idea of what I am up to on the NEC.

National Conference

National Conference was the culmination of a lot of hard work, hundreds of phone calls, filling in lots of the forms and hours of campaigning. I must have rehearsed my speech and the dubious (Robbie Williams esque) ending 50+ times. I am thankful to lots of valued volunteers who gave up a week of their life they will never get back to help get me elected.

My conference highlights – other than Wes’ election result – include:

1. Having Veronica King, VP (Welfare) and Rowan Harvey from Terrace Higgins Trust as speakers at the Labour Students fringe on their Sex, Lives and Politics Campaign.

2. Winning the Hizb-ut Tahrir debate! The point I kept wanting to make in this debate was that the Klu Klux Klan and the BNP say they are Christian Groups but for anyone who truly is in touch with the Christian faith would say “not in our name.” Why do we make any connection between Islam – a faith named after its overriding value, PEACE - and HUT, a right wing extremist group.

3. Winning the Targeted Grants debate, that was endorsed overwhelmingly by independent conference delegates. In this debate people have to debate that the speakers (not all Labour Students) won the debate and support from conference floor.

The very tense meal in Bella Pasta after conference was probably the longest pasta dish of my life. After a small celebration my colleagues in the Aldwych Group made sure my feet were firmly on the ground by voting that the Robbie Williams ending should never be repeated!!!

Holiday

After NUS conference I was lucky enough to get a short holiday in Mexico, away which consisted mainly of reading. I strongly advise everyone to read: We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver and A Church at War: Anglicans and Homosexuality, by Stephen Bates. Both are very good, thought provoking and informative.

Local Elections

Within hours of landing at Gatwick, I on was on the streets of Clapham delivering my first leaflet to get out the vote. It was scary to hear the amount of people who said they were prepared to vote BNP. This is a challenge I often relish, having – what I call – an “adult” conversation about asylum. People don’t believe themselves to be racist just feel forgotten while the media debate the affairs of politicians as they fear the lose of their home, job or a perceived injustice that others jump waiting lists as long a 20,000 people in parts of London.

The recent success (sic) of the BNP should worry us all; I look forward to joining other members of the NEC and students unions in beating these fascists out of British Politics through the ballot box.

Though a procedural irregularity at the count in Birmingham the BNP have their first, but importantly temporary, place on Birmingham City Council until a High Judge can confirm the election annulled and re-counted in favour of the winning candidate. When this happened, West Midlands students came together to campaign outside the City Hall making clear that this un-elected BNP candidate was not welcome.

LGBT Conference

Finally LGBT Conference was the culmination of my NEC Elect period. Proud to have another Bugs students (Claire Anderson – the best Chair of our LGBT Association to date as LGBT (Women’s Place) Officer) and another honest Labour Student (Scott Cuthbertson, formerly NUS Scotland’s LGBT Officer) joining us all on the NEC.

Despite the cynical blogging of my AWL comrade, LGBT conference was political, involved, active and informed debating conference – were targeted grants was a policy won by the clear support of students after rounds of speeches – and despite being slightly smaller we achieved like never before parity in the representation of women. This was an outcome achieved by a lot of hard work – I am pleased to have worked with Scott Cuthbertson and my Labour Student colleagues and other to make the policy change. If what it takes to get women to take their rightful *equal* place in the campaign is to see our numbers decrease in year one, it means we have the basis to build an active engaged campaign, relevant to the diversity of the LGBT community and no longer a gay man’s campaign. My hope was that the progressive groups in NUS supported women’s representation, if so lets work together to build the campaign and defend women in our delegations.

I want to wish the new committee, in its new and improved form, all the luck in the world this year – especially Scott and Claire.

Then the pending NEC Induction…

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