For this year’s Track the Campaign, the Badger has joined forces with The Independent newspaper’s valiant Democracy 2015 movement. Carrying the slogan: “People Politics, Not Party Politics”, Democracy 2015’s aims to revolutionise and democratise British politics in time for the next general election in 2015.
Andreas Whittam Smith, founder of The Independent, explains that the British nation’s ingrained disillusionment with Westminster incompetence and dishonesty has dangerous consequences for democracy in Britain. It is clear why The Independent has spearheaded this inspirational, exciting campaign: confidence and trust in our political make-up is dangerously low, the quality of democracy in Britain looks rather pitiful.
So why did The Badger choose to monitor and feature this campaign? This term, Sussex students will see an abundance of opportunities to shape politics at a local level – the first election of a Police Crime Commissioner for Sussex, the East Sussex By-Elections and University elections for student reps, part-time officers, and representative officers and Students Decide. Participating in and promoting a campaign which is diligently seeking to give us a louder and more consequential political voice on a national and local level means that we, as Sussex students, have the chance to hold our local political outlets and governmental bodies more accountable.
The Badger will follow this story closely for a month and will trace its steps throughout the academic year. Keep your eyes peeled!
Cat Gough
