An Interview with Sophie West: the Union’s satirical Presidential candidate

The Union’s recent elections have finally come to a conclusion. No longer will your Facebook DMs be filled with hopeful candidates and your Instagram Stories with reposted manifestos. It’s safe to say that this election was rather less monotonous than most preceding thanks to one unusual candidate.

(Image Credits: Sarah Swift)

Sophie West made a Presidential manifesto as a joke two hours before the submission deadline and was persuaded by her friends to send it in. The campaign garnered a lot of attention from Union and non-Union members alike and included pledges to implement an Election-Rigging Panel, to hold a Puppy Therapy Social (taxidermy edition) and a debate between Boris Johnson and his ex-wives.

The funniest thing is, however, that West ended up being endorsed by four former Union Presidents and actually missed out on the top job by only 24 votes.

Now that all the noise (and your average Union member’s Facebook DMs) has quietened down, I met Sophie in a café to look back on the election with wiser eyes. We talked about the truth behind her satirical campaign, whether she ever thought she might win (spoiler alert: yes, and she was very, very scared) and the future of the Union in general.

(Image Credits: Sophie West)

“I started at the Union in my second year,” said Sophie. “It wasn’t something that I even thought I could get involved in until I knew someone there. It’s been a whirlwind, though- a lot of work, and a lot of grief,” she laughs, “but yeah, a really interesting place, full of characters.”

Sophie doesn’t strike me as someone with a malicious vendetta against the Union. By contrast, she’s worked hard for it in the past, serving as Debates Officer in Michaelmas 2021, and she seems genuinely pleased that this term’s elections saw a 25 per cent increase in voter turnout. Does she think her entry had anything to do with that? “Maybe! We’ve come to a point in the Union where we’ve had three years of scandals and just completely hilarious and at times pretty appalling drama. It was just easy, way too easy, to make a satire campaign.”

(Image Credits via the Creative Commons Licenses)

Was there ever a point where West thought she might actually win? “Oh yeah,” she replied. “I had this panic in the middle of the week when I saw how many people had liked my post on Facebook and how many messages I had from people saying they were voting for me. It was both scary and exciting, imagining a headline announcing that a satirical candidate had won the election for President.”

Behind the jokes, West feels that there was an actual point to be made. “I think there’s a lot of people who go into the Union with starry eyes, thinking about all the responsibilities they might have and the people they might meet. That’s before they realise that the culture there can actually be very toxic, something which has definitely gotten worse over the past year. I had a lot of Union members come up to me and say that’s how they felt, and that they were going to vote for me.”

“There was this moment where what had initially been purely satire became more of an actual campaign. I think the parody gave voice to a lot of disillusioned people who have either been mistreated in the Union or just found its politics bizarre and self-important.

“I think backstabbing and manipulation can go on in Union politics and there are genuine barriers to entry for those who won’t pander to a conservative voting bloc. So at hustings especially, I did want to say something genuine. There’s a level of truth behind every joke, and I think giving voice to those criticisms of the Union is important.”

Was there a plan if she did win?  “I was torn between resigning and actually going through with it. I felt like I had a kind of duty to the voters who wanted change. However, resigning would have fit in with the general tone of the campaign- and, you know, Union President involves a lot of work over the break, and I have holidays booked.”

I asked Sophie how she saw the future of the Union and her place within it. “I think the Union will go on as it always has done-    the result of the Presidential election was arguably a vote for continuity, so my pessimistic prediction is that we won’t be seeing a culture change any time soon.

“However, it’ll also continue to bring some pretty awesome people into Cambridge- Union officers work tirelessly in their roles, so there’ll always be events for those wanting to procrastinate their degrees.”

“As for my personal role in it-  I’m sure I’ll pop my head in for the odd debate, or if they ever manage to tempt Tom Hiddleston into an interview. But for now, I think this campaign served as a fitting (if not dramatic) goodbye from me.”

You can take a look at Sophie’s campaign Facebook page here, and view the results of the election here. 

The Cambridge Union was contacted for comment.

Feature Image Credits: Sarah Swift

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