The official student newspaper of the University of East Anglia | Established 1992 | Issue 389 | 11th October 2022
News: Extenuating circumstances request changes .
Venue: Staying Features: What I wish I knew as a Fresher warm this Autumn
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UEA mood reflects national opinion
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Conse rvative
Considering the vast number of changes in political leadership many of our student population have seen in their lifetime, we also asked, “Who do you view as the stronger political leader?”. Just 2% identified Liz Truss (Conservative) as the Tories over stronger contender, while 62% favoured the last 12 years, and Keir Starmer (Labour). provide hope for long term change - I believe Keir Starmer can do this”. A further 35% said neither leader was strong, and the remaining 2% said they weren't sure. And lastly, in light of the As Britain inches into what many recent economic turbulence throughout commentators are already branding a the UK economy, Concrete asked, “Do “winter of discontent”, more public and you trust the current Conservative private sector strikes are due, fuel and government with your finances?”; just food bills continue to rise, and most 1% (1 person) answered ‘Yes’, 92% told us wages continue to fall (in real terms). ‘No’ and the remaining 7% said they were Many will look to the government more ‘Not sure’. than ever for financial assistance and s t a b l e answers. Our poll also allowed participants to comment directly on the current state Green of UK politics. Alex Gosling - a secondyear BA Philosophy and Politics student LibDem - comments, “Keir Starmer has only been strengthened by the situation the Tories have created. The only reason Labour has surged in the polls is because of the failures of their opponents - not their own Labour strengths. I doubt Starmer could hold his party together for long if he got into te government”. cre o: ot Ph
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The next general election may not be due for another two years. Still, it is clear that a seismic shift in general political thinking has been detected across the country in recent weeks and months - a shift that few predicted after the last landslide victory for the Conservatives under Boris Johnson just under three years.ago.
Photo:Unsplash
Firstly, “ if a snap general election was called tomorrow, which party would you be most likely to vote for?” Only 4% said they would vote for the current governing party (The Conservatives). 75% said they would vote for the Labour Party, 13% for The Green Party of England and Wales, 4% for the Liberal Democrats, and the remaining 4% listed ‘Other’.
In contrast, second-year BA History student Issie Mash added, “We need a smart leader with bold ideas, the determination to increase welfare funding, transform Britain into a sustainable nation, reverse the socioeconomic d a m a g e caused b y t h e
Photo: Concrete
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Keen to gauge a sense of where our local community stands in comparison, Concrete surveyed 104 UEA students at random, asking three simple questions.
Liz Truss I don't know
The results will make for stark reading for Conservative members that hoped the election of Liz Truss as leader would News Editor & Editor-in-Chief mark a “positive fresh start”. Just 21% of the 1700 UK citizens surveyed said they would vote for a Conservative candidate It’s been over 12 years since the UK in a general election. The figure compares last had a non-Conservative lead to a record 53% in April 2020 and 39% government. Whilst the ruling party’s this time last year. logo may have remained the same, the country has had no fewer than four Prime Conversely, The Labour Party’s approval Ministers in six years. ratings stand at 54%- the highest vote share ever recorded by YouGov and With tensions over Brexit and, latterly, the party’s highest-ever figure in any questions over the moral intentions of published poll since the late 1990s. national governance laying bare deep Elsewhere, the Liberal Democrats stand in-party splits, where do the public at 7% and the Greens at 6% in the longnow stand on the credibility of the established national poll. oldest parliamentary party in Western democracy? Reflecting on the Conservative’s substantial drop in support, YouGov We compared the UEA mood with Associate Director Patrick English points the national opinion, and found a key to three stand-out factors among the alignment; a lack of government support. results. Firstly, “the proportion of 2019 Conservative voters who now say they Amidst a fortnight of political upheaval will vote Labour has risen to a sizeable and economic chaos, YouGov and The 17%” and “Only 37% of those who backed Times carried out their latest national the Conservatives in the previous election voting intention poll currently intend to stick with the party”. at the end of September. English summarised these findings by highlighting how “The current situation is more comparable to the around 16% of 1992 SN Conservative P Conservative voters who switched to Labour in 1997 Lib De m under Tony Blair”. Such a signal will undoubtedly come as hopeful news to many in Labour with the party Labour making a concerted Ph effort to revert towards ot o: in te Yo the centre-ground of rn tio uGo n v British politics, akin to Blair, (C on s pi vot ec in cr since 2019. g et h
Jamie Bryson & Libby Hargreaves