Elected as a Guildford Borough Councillor for Onslow at the age of 23, Chris Ward has campaigned for many of the issues facing Surrey students during his time in office. Here, he discusses his past and present work for the community, as well as his reaction to The Browne Review as a member of the Liberal Democrats.

 In 2003, Chris Ward faced his first challenge in the world of politics. Then Editor for barefacts, he was involved in the ‘Lights, Camera, Action” campaign to install CCTV surveillance in the Tesco underpass. He continued this after being elected in 2007, coming under fire from Conservative Councillors who denounced Chris as a scaremonger for drawing attention to the frequent cases of sexual assault and GBH in the dimly lit passageway, it was argued that no action would be taken until more crime figures had been established. Tirelessly campaigning against this distorted logic long after the Lights, Camera, Action campaign was formally closed, Chris remembers the day that the cameras were finally put up, “One of the girls who had been assaulted in the underpass thanked me personally, and it was then that I knew I wanted to go in to politics.”

 Since then, Chris has embarked on the ‘Are You Protected?’ campaign for safe student housing, helping vulnerable students check before paying extortionate fees to irresponsible landlords. “My main concern was to prevent Guildford from obtaining the student ghettos you see in such cities as Nottingham”, he explained, “The aim was that if we promoted the fact that students are eligible to three times the compensation if landlords fail to place their deposit in a protection scheme, negligent landlords will be compelled to clean up their act in general.”

 In his ongoing campaign against the Gay Blood Ban, Chris spoke out at an LGBT meeting in Guildford last month to express his own personal encounters with homophobia and intimidation in the past, and to encourage others to speak out who have had similar experiences. In his speech he stated, “I find it both unbearable and impossible to explain how it feels to be a young boy and feel that you are entirely alone and rejected for what you are.  It is something that many people here today will have experienced, and it’s something that still goes on”, before adding, “Don’t entertain the self-corroding paranoia that the world will reject you, because I know I felt that way not so long ago, and I know now that it’s not true.”

 Going into further detail on the ban, Chris explained the flawed evidence that its supporters were using to enforce their preconceptions, “If, hypothetically, a man had a homosexual experience thirty or forty years ago, even before HIV was first clinically observed and ignorantly stereotyped as a gay disease, he would still be banned from donating blood today.”

 However in the current political climate, it is not just the gay blood ban but also the Lib Dem stance on raising tuition fees that has caused the greatest stir, not just in the public but also in the party itself. Chris himself would support a hybrid graduate tax, whereby those taking degrees with the greatest pay off in later life would recompense a larger amount for their studies, but also approach EU students with the same conditions. “The coalition is adamant that a graduate tax would not work because we’d be unable to apply it to EU students who leave the UK after graduation. Yet there is evidence to suggest that some European nations such as Greece and Lithuania apply a differential funding system to their university students. Either the coalition has purposely neglected this option or it has failed to do its homework.”

 Chris went on to acknowledge that although he would still support the abolition of tuition fees altogether, universities had to be realistic in the future. “The UK culture now dictates that everybody needs to do an academic degree with the government failing to push people into vocational work.  Another major issue is the one-size-fits-all student loan which does not cover student essentials in Guildford. That’s fine if you’re from a privileged family, but for the major proportion of students this could be the reason behind the 25% dropout rate.”

 For now, as councillor for Onslow and the University of Surrey, Chris will continue to provide for student needs. “I’m here if anyone has any problems: students belong here as much as anyone else does. I respect the role that Surrey students play in the Guildford community, and that is not a responsibility I take lightly.”

Tom Goulding