Personalities and politics

George Foulkes

A graduate of the University of Edinburgh with a degree in Psychology, the Right Honourable Lord George Foulkes of Cumnock MSP—to quote his full title—currently represents the Lothians region for the Labour party in the Scottish Parliament, as well as holding a seat in the House of Lords. In addition, he was an MP from 1979 until 2005.

In politics, Mr Foulkes has made enemies both on the left and the right, vocally supporting the war in Iraq, university topup fees and identity cards, while at the same time leading the way on issues such as a public smoking ban and a national "opt out" organ donation register. In his native Edinburgh, the Bruntsfield resident also arouses partisan passions due to a far more personal allegiance: Lord Foulkes is Chair of Heart of Midlothian Football Club.

As a student Lord Foulkes was President of the Student Representative Council and president of the Scottish Union of Students – the precursor to NUS Scotland. He describes himself as a “passionate believer in the value and power of education,” and says that he believes “the staff and students of the University need a local, working rector who can really wield some influence in the corridors of power.” However, critics have claimed that the pressures of being an MSP and a peer, with a full schedule at both Westminster and Holyrood will prevent Mr Foulkes from fulfilling his promise. The fact that, since the start of the campaign, Lord Foulkes has made just two public campaign stops on campus, and just one press event - his campaign launch, on 20 November 2008 - may confirm their suspicions.

With his manifestos to be published on 29 January, Lord Foulkes has thus far taken policy positions on supporting the £150,000 refurbishment of the Bedlam Theatre, and a planned extension of the Pleasance Centre for Sporting Excellence. He has also promised to promote the extension of sports bursaries targeted at students in the run-up to the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Iain Macwhirter

Iain Macwhirter, the veteran political journalist and commentator, recieved his postgraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh in the 1970s. His 30 year career in broadcast and print journalism have seen him make his name primarily as a BBC correspondent and columnist based at Westminster, and latterly as the founder in 1989 of the Sunday Herald newspaper. His position as an observer of, rather than a participant in, party politics is, as Mr Macwhirter told The Journal, his greatest strength as a candidate.

“I’m not a member of any political party, though that’s not to say I’m unpolitical; but it’s a great advantage not to be constrained by any one set of positions. I think students are inherently suspicious of party figures,” says Mr Macwhirter. “The rectorship is far too important to be dominated by personalities, or become a political football.”

Mr Macwhirter enjoys the support of nearly every representative student political group, with endorsements forthcoming from people who are rarely found to be in agreement: EUSA President Adam Ramsay, and president of the Edinburgh University Conservative and Unionist Society Harry Cole, as well as the leaders of the student Scottish Nationalists, Young Greens and Liberal Democrats, have jointly expressed their support of Mr Macwhirter’s candidacy. Current rector and former Green Party MSP Mark Ballard is also supporting Mr Macwhirter.

The cornerstone of Mr Macwhirter’s campaign platform is his committment to establishing a £7,000 minimum income guarantee for students with the support of government. “I think that figure is wholly reasonable; we are where we are with the current state of the economy, but with banks not willing to offer lending and overdraft facilities, and graduate employment collapsing, many students are going to find themselves with £15-20,000 worth of debt when they graduate.

“The government should also be passing on the cut in interest rates to those repaying student loans,” Mr Macwhirter said.

The candidate, who lives in Edinburgh on the Pleasance, has also indicated he would champion student views on issues such as reducing the cost of accomodation for students in Edinburgh; rewarding excellence in teaching, particularly for student teachers; improving the quality of academic feedback; and better representing the 10,000 students studying at the King’s Buildings. He is, however, particularly motivated to tackle the growing problem of lack of contact time for in humanities degree programmes.

“I was astonished to learn that some students are recieving as little as four hours contact time per week. That is completely unacceptable – the University of Edinburgh is supposed to be a centre of higher learning.

“The focus on research at Edinburgh can be clearly seen through developments such as the new Informatics building—that undergraduates aren’t even allowed to use—but the university has got to honour its contract with students to provide top quality teaching,” he said.