Leading Student Respect member Ian Drummond has been elected as Vice President of the University of London Union, representing well over 100,000 students at the 22 colleges and institutes of the University of London, on a campaigning, anti-cuts platform. This follows recent election victories by left wing candidates such as Ashok Kumar at LSE and Michael Chessum at UCL; and the President-elect of ULU, Clare Solomon, who stood on a similar left wing platform to Ian.

A final year student at the School of Oriental and African Studies, Ian has been involved in student activism since he arrived in university, and his campaigning record goes back to 2003 when he was involved in an anti war walkout at his school.

Ian’s campaign focused on turning ULU, which is often seen as irrelevant by London students, into a campaigning union to fight back against the education cuts and rising fees threatened by the main parties. With Ian, and Clare, in the driving seat, ULU’s campaigning budget and ability to launch united, progressive campaigns to defend education across London campuses can be put to maximum effect.

As the econimic crisis continues to bite reaction is thriving. Racism continues to soar, threatening all Black, Jewish, Asian and Muslim students across society and unfortunately our campuses are not immune. Opposing the racist offensive and celebrating London’s multiculturalism will be a central campaigning focus for ULU students in the year ahead under Ian and Clare’s leadership.

It was played up in his election campaign, and probably key to his success, that Ian was one of the 500 international activists who broke the siege on Gaza in the latest Viva Palestina convoy in January. Students in London have an impressive record of campaigning for peace and international justice; now the leadership of ULU reflects students’ commitment to stand up for the right to education across the world.

Another of Ian’s key campaign commitments included support for the London Living Wage campaign. With Ian in office from August, ULU is well on the way to fulfilling its progressive potential.

Read about newly elected ULU President Clare Solomon’s mandate for resistance here: https://www.counterfire.org/index.php/news/60-ulu-election/4104-mandate-for-resistance-clare-solomon-elected-ulu-president

If you are a student in London and would like to get in touch with Ian about how you can get involved with these campaigns next year please contact us: students@therespectparty.info