Can Our Political-Party Societies Coexist?
The start of the new academic year has, once again, offered new and returning students a wealth of clubs and societies to join. Over 300 student-led groups were showcased at this year’s Freshers’ Fair, ranging from sports clubs to social activism groups. Among these were Edinburgh University’s traditional political-party societies that represent the typical range of parties seen in the UK: Edinburgh Labour Students, Yes Students for Independence, and the Edinburgh University Liberal Association.
There is, however, a newcomer to campus. Shadowing the current political situation in the UK, a Reform Society has emerged to sit alongside the various other political societies at Edinburgh University. Though not currently listed on EUSA’s website – and absent from this semester’s Freshers’ Fair – the Edinburgh Reform Society debuted on Instagram as a university society in July of this year. So far, they have accrued 267 followers. Their introductory message invited students to become members, seemingly welcoming anyone regardless of “race, ethnicity or orientation,” who share their values and who have “a deep interest in the current political climate.”
When asked to comment on what they had to offer the student body, Edinburgh’s Reform Society responded by saying: “There is a massive gap of political representation at university where we feel there’s a silent majority of students who are too afraid to speak up.” They went on to state that their absence from the Freshers Fair was due to concerns over safety, claiming their members had suffered abuse from other students. “We are under threat every day for just having different opinions,” they commented.
This society is not the first Reform organisation to arrive on a university campus. Other universities, including St Andrews and Durham University, also have Reform societies. This is clearly a growing trend, reflecting the increasing popularity of the Reform UK party itself. Reform UK came into being in 2018 as a private limited company, with Nigel Farage in possession of most of its shares. In 2024, ownership was handed over to party members, and now, as of the last general election, it has cemented itself as a major political player in British politics.
Nigel Farage – an already contentious figure due to his role in Brexit – heads the party. He has most recently come under fire for his pledge to stop 800,000 people from qualifying for indefinite leave to remain between 2026 and 2030, an action that would potentially cause massive disruptions to legal immigrants and their families. Such a policy claim has drawn criticism from all sides, but it is not by any means the first reflection of anti-immigrant sentiment within the party. Indeed, the deportation of “illegal immigrants” and the securitisation of borders are cornerstones of the party’s manifesto.
Consequently, having a university society with these views will likely shift the previously curated balance of the political opinions on campus. The societies, Edi Uni Greens, Edinburgh Labour Students, Yes Students for Independence, and Edinburgh University Liberal Association have responded with firmness to this newcomer. On Monday, 22 September, they released a joint statement on their official Instagram pages to showcase their united opinion. These often-conflicting political organisations all seem to share the same deep concern regarding this new arrival and thus have agreed to stand united against them. In their written statement, they have refused to invite Edinburgh Reform Society to any future cross-party events: “Reform UK is a political party that thrives on the divisiveness that we have worked to avoid at the university level… We have agreed that we must put aside our political differences and act as one in resisting the actions of Reform.”
The Edinburgh University Communist Society’s response, on the other hand, did not express the same kind of differentiation between parties. Their statement – released on 25 September – explicitly asserted the claim that Edinburgh Reform Society is not a fascist society as some may posit, but rather an organisation that “operates firmly within the framework of liberal capitalism” while “weaponising populist rhetoric and liberal-democratic institutions.” Given this, their opinion is that “Reform has the same right to exist as other political societies.”
Alongside all the political-party societies on campus, The Student has also reached out to individuals for comments and opinions – though no responses have been received yet. Questions and concerns naturally arise over Edinburgh Reform’s existence in such a diverse space, given that the University of Edinburgh hosts thousands of international students. Despite – or perhaps because – of the impassioned political discourse Edinburgh Reform Society’s inception has generated, it is unclear how this new society will affect the university atmosphere in the long term. It is also uncertain whether this new arrival will manage to sew further division – as some have claimed is in Reform’s nature – or whether the University’s practice of respectful coexistence will manage to survive.
Photo by Mark Chan for The Student