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Hi my name is Fergal Sharpe, I am currently a 3rd year Politics and Parliamentary Studies student, currently on placement in Parliament. I have gained a lot of experience from my placement and this has inspired me to run for the position of External Campaigns Officer in this year’s committee election.

During my placement, I have been out campaigning during the Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election in December, and during the current local elections in my home area of Lewisham, in which I will be attending the count as a counting agent. I feel as though these campaigns have made me a confident door-knocker, and therefore, has allowed me to understand the importance of where it is important to campaign and of getting a good turnout from enthusiastic activists, to ensure well-run, efficient and fun campaign sessions for society members, as well as giving me experience to work with local councillors and MPs to organise these sessions. I also helped with campaigning during the 2019 general election in Leeds North West. Leeds NW went from a marginal seat in 2017 to a fairly safe seat in 2019, and therefore have seen the importance of the role the society can play in local campaigning and ensuring that students, in particular, are mobilised to get out and vote.

If elected to the role, I have several things I would like to pledge to all members of the society. They are:

• To continue the fantastic work to focus a lot of door-knocking campaign days outside of Leeds North West, in areas such as Farnley and Wortley, Keighley, Castleford, Pudsey, Morley and Outwood etc., by working with local party organisers across the West Yorkshire that already have good connections with the as these are good opportunities to engage with local communities in which where every vote counts and therefore strong engagement is crucial. These are also good opportunities to meet and network with lots of new people.

• To organise campaign training sessions at the start, and throughout the year, to ensure new members to the society feel welcomed and can be confident on the doorstep, if they have not been campaigning before. These sessions will show new members the ropes of political election campaigning and will include training on what you should say to voters on the doorstep, how to do ‘run the board’ etc. I think these will be particularly valuable to meet new members and to encourage them to come out doorknocking, especially into areas outside of Leeds NW, listed above. This will also be important as a general election could suddenly be sprung on the country, just as it was 2017, and therefore as a society, we have to be ready for any eventuality.

• Finally, I want to increase the amount of work and engagement the society currently does with Leeds-based community groups, such as working with local foodbanks and on local, community-led campaigns outside of the university, to ensure that the society gives something back to the wider community outside of the university, which I believe is incredibly important as we live through increasingly challenging times for many people under Tory rule, and also a key value of any student Labour society.

Thank you for reading my campaign statement. I hope that you will be voting for me, Fergal Sharpe, to be your 2022-23 External Campaigns Officer, so that we can build on the already good work that has been made by the Committee this year and ensure that we are effective local and national political campaigners, as well as helping to support the local community.