European election results for Oxford announced
Oxford has bucked the South East trend in the European Parliament elections, with Labour having come first in Oxford’s results, securing 13,015 votes (33%), followed by the Green Party, with 8337 votes (21.24%).
However, in the South East (the European Parliament constituency to which Oxfordshire belongs), UKIP have won four of the ten available seats, with the Conservative Party in second place with three. Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party each took one seat. UKIP leader Nigel Farage is among the candidates elected to the European Parliament for the South East.
Across the South East, UKIP secured 32.14% of the vote, seeing their share increase 13.29% from 2009; a win of two additional seats. In second place, the Conservatives won 30.95% of the vote; a decrease of 3.84%, and the loss of one seat. In third, Labour won 14.66%, an increase of 6.41%, but remained with one seat.
Despite their overall success in the South East, UKIP came fifth in the Oxford poll, with 4979 votes (12.63%). In Oxford, the Conservative Party came in at third place, having secured 5997 votes (15.21%), closely followed by the Liberal Democrats, with 5332 votes (13.52%).
Balliol student and Socialist Party candidate Claudia Hogg-Blake, the only Oxford student to run in the European elections, told Cherwell that she took some consolation in the fact that UKIP were knocked into fifth place in Oxford. Speaking on the success of UKIP on a national scale, Hogg-Blake commented, “I would rather people had voted for a non-racist party”.
Remarking on the performance of the Socialist Party in the elections, she added, “It’s good that we managed to increase our vote, but it’s not as good as we would have liked. That said, we didn’t expect to do that well”. In Oxford, the Socialist Party won 221 votes, or 0.56% of the vote.
Turnout in the Oxford area was 38.22%, up from 35.5% in the 2009 European elections, and greater than the 36.46% turnout for the South East. Europe-wide, turnout has marginally increased for the first time since elections to the European Parliament began in 1979, at 43.11%, up from 43% in 2009.
Speaking after the results were announced for the South East, Nigel Farage claimed that UKIP “have delivered just about the most extraordinary result that has been seen in British politics for 100 years.”
Farage continued, “In a way it is surprising it didn’t happen before, because we have had three parties in British politics that have lead us into a common market that has developed into a political union, who’ve twisted and turned with a variety of promises to give us a referendum that they’ve never actually kept. I think the penny’s really dropped, that as members of this union, we can’t run our own country, and crucially we can’t control our own borders”.
Nationally, UKIP have increased their vote by nearly 11%, so far securing an additional ten seats, bringing their total to twenty-three. This matches the European trend, as across Europe, anti-immigration and euroskeptic parties seem to have made significant gains. Nevertheless, in Britain the far-right BNP have seen their vote decrease by over 5%, losing all their seats in the European Parliament.
In elections to the European Parliament, Oxford is part of the South East constituency, which comprises Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Sussex. The constituency, which is the largest in the UK, returns ten members to the European Parliament, representing a population of around eight million.
4th Week in Fashion
‘Coming Soon To a Woman Near You’
The Most Newsworthy in Fashion and Trends
Heating up the Pradasphere – Hot on the heels of the great Dior exhibition in 2013, Harrods has announced the opening of the ‘Pradasphere’. It’s described as ‘an exhuberant, month-long exhibition that traces the diverse passions of Miuccia Prada’. As well as experiencing great works from the fashion house, customers can also order some of the exhibition pieces to buy.
For Whom the Shoe Fits – Disney debuts a teaser picture for the new live action Cinderella adaptation to be released in April 2015. The new Cinderella is Britain’s (and Downton Abbey’s) own Lily James, whilst Prince Charming is Richard Madden of Game of Thrones fame. The new feature, directed by Kenneth Branagh, is said to be ‘a dazzling spectacle for a whole new generation’ and is sure to display some beautifully dramatic costumes. See a snapshot below:
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A Delevingne Day for a Wedding – The world got to see what the marriage of a well-connected socialite-and-model looked like when Poppy Delevingne got married to long term partner James Cook on the 17th of May. The bride herself, a close friend of Chanel mogul Karl Largerfeld, wore a couture Chanel gown for the big day, whilst her younger sister Cara also followed up in Chanel. Other notable moments of the day: elder sister Chloe wore a £1500 Victoria Beckham dress, and Poppy got the ‘ring bear’ (a small child in a bear costume) that Robin from How I Met Your Mother was so afraid about.
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Sarah Millican Hits Back – Sarah Millican calls up the nonsense of female criticism through the backlash she received for wearing a John Lewis gown at the recent BAFTA awards ceremony. She says: ‘I felt wonderful in that dress, and surely that’s all that counts… The next day, I was in newspapers pilloried for what I was wearing. I’m sorry. I thought I had been invited to such an illustrious event because I was good at my job.’
Cannes Style – Stars are out in force for the Cannes Film Festival, with stars Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Blake Lively and many more hitting the red carpet in their best couture frocks. It was been a spectacle for the paparazzi, with many other celebrity names flocking in to take advantage of the publicity-fest in the South of France. See the Hunger Games’ cast out in style below:
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We’re All Terrible
Another beautiful day in Oxford, with the sun playing across the old stone buildings and grass quads. And the students, well dressed, attractive, and carrying scholarly looking books are a fitting dressing for this academic idyll. Everything is good; everything is lovely.
Although, of course, it turns out we’re all terrible.
I’ve long supposed that the crude, and often malicious, side of student politics was nothing more than a fun introduction to the real world, where the violence of the apex predator is altogether more destructive and terrifying. 19-year-old kids dressing up in black tie, screwing one another over for the smallest conceivable amount of power, and generally floating around town with a degree of dick-in-hand seriousness that would put the European Parliament to shame, were all just harmless games.
But, over the last couple of weeks, Oxford appears to be engaging in a potent anti-PR campaign. And, for once, we can’t blame the Lib Dems or the Vice-Chancellor. This is self-inflicted, Mutually Assured Access Destruction.
The realisation that the ballot had been rigged in the NUS referendum should have been deeply shocking. More surprising than anything is the amount the perpetrator must have cared about the result of the election. It’s the NUS – it’s defined by apathy. But because this is only the latest in a string of scandals this term, the news has been greeted with weak grunts of despair, rather than gaping, floorbound jaws.
The malpractice was recognised and remedied swiftly, with credit to the campaign heads, Tom Rutland and Jack Matthews, for their integrity with regards to the process. But the damage had been done.
Last week national newspapers were reporting that England’s oldest university had voted to pull out of the NUS; a further Conservatisation of the institution, in the wake of the recent scandals at the Union. The NUS result felt, to most of us, like Oxford had confirmed its isolationist and exceptionalist tendencies for all the world to see.
So, in that sense, it’s a massive relief to discover that the ‘Yes’ campaign actually won the referendum quite comfortably. In a battle of campaigns, which basically became ‘Unbearably Cringeworthy Yes’ vs. ‘Sinister Man in Mask No’, the triumph belonged to the liberation groups whose argument for membership had cut to the heart of the issue.
Sadly, the more damaging result of the referendum is the realisation that Oxford is the worst university in the country. 99% of its students are perfectly good, honest people, but the 1% who aren’t are so morally bankrupt and ambitious that they have become the standard-bearers for the university.
As a child, I tried to convince myself that there was some sort of karmic response to any negative action I performed. If I left the lights on in my bedroom, I would tell myself that a cat in Lithuania had died because of my negligence. It was kind of fucked up. But to reduce the current circumstances to the same karmic chain, we might suggest that every time we, as a community, do some sort of reprehensible Bullingdon-bullshit, we slam shut access doors across the country.
The key thing that people should take from these events is that Oxford is willing to scrutinise itself. It’s not the fault of the student press (or Facebook discussion groups, such is the tide of change…) for reporting them; in fact, that’s the most admirable part of this (with certain exceptions). We are willing to hold our institutions to account, and whilst that means that our sad failures come to light, it also allows us to retain some ethical dignity. Perhaps the problem is less that we’re all terrible children, and more that other universities aren’t digging deep enough into their own shortcomings.
We voted to stay part of the NUS, we rectified our electoral malpractice within a few days, and we reported the issue clearly and competently. During our inevitable period of disgrace, these are all things that we should keep sight of. The image of the Dreaming Spires as a thin veneer, which hides a deep rot, is a tempting one, but in the past few weeks, the mould has risen to the surface. All that remains is the hope that, beneath the surface, there’s something more substantial.
Review: Surprise
Surprise involves a confused storyline that seems to touch upon various themes from class dynamics to existential crises faced by mid-twenty university graduates who are now living in the ‘real world’. While the acting at parts was quite good, and a few of the jokes did produce a chuckle, the plot was generally haphazard and usually only mildly funny.
A surprise party is held for Paul who a few years after university has reached the ripe old age of 26 and therefore has become ‘nearer thirty than twenty’(Shock horror). Neither he nor most of his white middle-class friends (also in their mid-twenties) seem to be in the mood for celebration, occupied as they are with various personal problems. One friend is distraught about her recent break-up with a long-term boyfriend, and another two are bitterly quarrelling in what looks like a marriage on the verge of collapse. Guy, the protagonist, if there is one in this story, is different and doesn’t fit in with Paul’s other friends. He isn’t part of the professional class.
He is awkwardly dressed, wearing a badly-tied tie and shirt, and donning a track-suit and a pair of canvas shoes. He does not observe supposed English middle-class etiquette, such as not looking through books on the host’s shelf or making a clutter in the living room, which is a constant cause of distress to the host. Unlike the other characters in the play, Guy does not have a university degree; he is unemployed and spends much of his time smoking weed, though he is seemingly the most interesting and the most intelligent character in the play.
During the party, Guy manipulates others emotionally, spikes their drinks, and causes the psychedelic madness, the basis of much of the play’s questionably humourous plot development and unnecessarily tragic ending. Guy’s motives are unclear. The description of the play in the programme reads: “he wants revenge on the moneyed classes for their years of condescension.” This is rather unpersuasive and was not supported sufficiently by the play’s action or dialogue.
What exactly the play tries to explore remains a mystery. Is it the discontentment of the ‘moneyed’ university graduates in comparison with the contentment of an unemployed druggy? Or is it a polemic on the class system?I will probably never know. The only coherent message that the play appears to convey is a facetious and somewhat disturbing one, which I am going to presume is conveyed unintentionally: be wary of the unemployed and the unkempt – they might spike your drink.
My dad bought me a proper kart and from there we kept going
Following our review of Oxford’s success in the 2014 Varsity Karting event, I met with two stars of the show. We chatted to James Lambton (1st) and Callum Hughes (3rd), about their experience in Varsity and in Oxford motorsport in general.
When asked about why they got into karting in Oxford, both drivers pointed towards childhood. Lambton told me, “I got into karting because of my dad. He used to take me down to the local track, and we would mess around like you do. After doing that for a while he felt I should have a go in a proper kart. We went for a few test days and we started racing.”
Hughes said, “When I was 8, for my birthday my dad took me to indoor karting: I loved it so much. Periodically we went, until for my 10th birthday – my dad bought me a proper kart and from there we just kept going.”
On his motivation, Callum confessed to be- ing a bit of a petrolhead. “Since I was young, I was always interested in cars as well. I am interested in motorsport and it went from there.” However Lambton just explained that it was all down to the fun factor, saying, “I wouldn’t say it is anything more than it is really good fun. I do not take it that seriously.”
I then asked whether these Oxford aces had any four-wheeled heroes. James Lambton men- tioned the elephant in the room. “I am not big on heroes, but if I had to say someone at the moment, I’d say Lewis Hamilton was the first good British driver I saw winning.”
His team-mate delved further back into the annals of motorsport history and cited F1 legend Nigel Mansell. He said, “When I started karting I was always interested in Nigel Mansell’s career because he had a really good season and absolutely dominated the field, and now I’d probably say Lewis Hamilton because he is doing the same.”
Karting isn’t the most obvious of sports to pick up at university, so I asked how the two drivers would recommend beginning. Lambton answered, saying, “The first thing I’d do would be to join the Motor Drivers’ Club. They run internal club championship anyone can go along to; you don’t need any prior experience, so it is great for beginners and good fun.”
Representing Oxford at any sport can prove a testing challenge; it’s not always easy to bal- ance work and high-quality extracurriculars. However, these boys seem to find managing it easy. Lambton said, “For me, I find it is not that bad because it is only one day every couple of weeks so you can plan for that and do your work accordingly. It’s not really a problem.”
Last month’s Varsity victory was incredibly impressive, and as the two men in front of me had stood on the podium, it seemed sensible to ask how that had felt to win.
Lambton explained that it’d been pretty overwhelming. “It took a while for it to sink in, to be honest. It was my first proper race win; in all the karting I had done before I never actually won a race, so it was a pretty good feeling!
Hughes laughed as he answered. “Well, I came third actually, but for Oxford it was great to win, we knew we had the stronger team but in motorsport you never know what is going to happen, so to get a win and to do it in our first year is very nice.”
This seemed like a good opportunity to gauge the rivalry within the Oxford ranks. Would they have rathered individual or team glory?
Lambton hesitates slightly but answers, “I was in the lucky position to get both but I would probably say the team win actually because if you get the individual win, yeah it is great you feel good but no one else feels that great. So it is nice to win the race and to win Varsity because everyone is in a good mood.”
His team-mate takes a controversial line though: he’d prefer the personal glory. “I was probably more about the individual win, because I always thought Oxford had a good chance of winning overall. Throughout the whole year we race together, we race for Oxford in the University Championship but we do not actually race against each other because we are on the same team. This was a day to see who was the best, so there was a bit of pride at stake.”
Moving on as the pair laugh, I wonder if there was much of a gameplan.
“What we actually did at the start of the Varsity race was we tried to engineer it so we ended up with three frontrunners. I started on pole and tried to let the guy in second in front of me because it is a disadvantage starting on the outside lane, in the end that didn’t go so well because he jumped the start and got a penalty, but generally we don’t fight each other too hard.
“We obviously do to a certain extent, but at the end of the day if you take someone out who is on the same team that is really silly so we just give each other room, if someone is coming up behind you who is clearly faster there is no point fighting it so we let each other pass.
“Tactics are a bit hard to engineer when you are out on the track, but it is all about being sensible and giving more room to an Oxford rather than a Cambridge rival.”
Our interview concludes as I ask the karters what they would prefer: a British Universities title, or Varsity success.
Lambton answers first, “I would have to say the Uni championship because there are good drivers at Cambridge and the competition was decent but there are some really fast guys at the universities track, so to win at that competition would be amazing,”
Hughes agreed, summing it up by saying, “Some of the other drivers are Ford Super Cup drivers and top level karters so to win that would be zing, and also Cambridge race in that too, and so we would be beating the Tabs at the same time!”
Sporting Rock Stars: Rio Ferdinand
There are great footballers, there are great businessmen, and then there is Rio Ferdinand. This summer, Ferdinand – the man who puts the ‘baller’ in ‘footballer’ – will finally part ways with Manchester United, the team he has represented for over a decade.
Rio, who grew up in Peckham, started his professional career at West Ham, before moving to Leeds United for a record transfer fee of £18m in 2000. Rio was then shipped off to rivals Manchester United for a fee that eventually crept over £30m, and at the time made Ferdinand the most expensive British footballer in history.
When Nemanja Vidic arrived at United in 2006, it was a match made in heaven. Rio, along with his new defensive partner, had an incredibly successful career at United, winning six Premier League titles, a Champions League, and two League Cups. Being a great footballer, however, is only part of the Rio Ferdinand story; his rock star credentials are immaculate too. In fact, testing positive for significant levels of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, Rio’s eventful personal life is more the reason for his place in this column.
First, there’s the sex. As with any rock star, the truth here is clouded by a haze of ambiguity, suppressed allegations and accusatory tabloid headlines. In April 2010, shortly after Rio had been appointed England captain for the approaching World Cup, The Sunday Mirror ran an article entitled ‘My Affair with England Captain Rio’, based on the allegations of interior designer Carly Storey. Ferdinand’s efforts to silence Storey and receive compensation backfired: in the resulting trial, the court heard of alleged affairs with ten other women, involving: a threesome in Ayia Napa, a Page Three girl, two models, a stripper, an air hostess and a Pop Idol hopeful (probably not at the same time). The Ayia Napa story was particularly juicy, with a rather explict videotape surfacing in the documentary Sex, Footballers, and Videotape.
However, Ferdinand is perhaps more no- torious for his run-in with the drug-testing authorities. In September 2003, the defender missed a scheduled drugs test. He received an eight-month punishment ban, despite passing a doping test twenty-four hours later. But the truth as to Rio’s actual use of drugs then is far from clear.
Ferdinand has actual rock star pretentions: according to United legend and MUTV regular Paddy Crerand, “Rio thinks he’s Snoop the Dogg”. In 2005, he created the record label ‘White Chalk Music’, and hasn’t looked back since, signing a grand total of two artists – superstars Melody Johnston and Nia Jai – who have become less than household names. Rio himself even graced the latter’s 2010 album with a rap of his own. But perhaps Ferdinand’s most important foray into the music industry – both for the artist and the industry itself – was his 2009 rendition of rapper Kano’s ‘Rock n Rolla’ at a karaoke night at a tapas bar.
With a rap sheet (excuse the pun) which extends far longer than this column allows, frankly it’s a miracle that Rio Ferdinand hasn’t been a Cherwell rock star before.
Do B-Leagues mark the end of competitive English football?
The FA chairman Greg Dyke is no stranger to controversy. In December 2013, there were calls for him to resign after he madea cut-throat gesture in response to England’s ‘challenging’ World Cup draw. The England Commission’s proposals would constitute the biggest shake-up of the English game since the war. Its aim is to increase the percentage of English players playing regularly in the premier league from 32% to 45% by 2022 and to improve development of players between the ages of 18-21, dubbed the “black hole” stage of development between academies and the first teams.
To do so Dyke’s commission has recommended the establishment of a League 3, between League 2 and the Conference, which would initially include 10 ‘B’ teams from Premier League clubs. The B teams would have to meet a certain criteria: there would have to be 19 players under 21, 20 would have to be home-grown and there would be a ban on non-EU players. Dyke warned that failure to adopt his plans would leave a “bleak future” for English football. Unsurprisingly the scheme has gained support from Premier League clubs such as Manchester City, Liverpool, and Tottenham. The recommendations replicate the way in which Spain and Germany organise their leagues.
The proposals stem from a perceived failure in the development of the next generation of English players. Although players like Daniel Sturridge and Ross Barkley have been performing well for their clubs, neither are playing competitive European football yet, nor making the same global impact as their predecessors – the likes of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
The aim is laudable then, however, by having B teams playing up to the Championship there is likely to only be an adverse effect on lower league teams. Currently, the English league system is unique in the world insofar as attendances far exceed anything experienced in lower European leagues. In League 2 this season the highest attendance exceeded 16,000, and the average is 4,274. This is only 2,500 less than the Spanish Segunda’s (second tier) average, despite being two leagues lower. Luton Town, in the Conference, still get an average attendance of 7,387, despite being in the 5th tier and not even being in a professional league.
Potentially, Dyke’s proposals would have an adverse effect on the popularity of lower-league football. The reason lower league football is so popular is because it inspires community spirit, with supporters following their local club for generations. Allowing B teams would upset this tradition by making the leagues uncompetitive. A Chelsea reserve side, for example, would be barred from being promoted past League 1, have a high turnover of players, and would be made up of young novices uninterested in remaining in the reserve side. They would also be unlikely to attract large crowds as currently reserve football receives negligible attendances. In such an environment, is it really fair on lower league fans to force them to watch reserve sides week in week out?
There is also a question mark as to whether this really would benefit English football or if these would just benefit the top Premier League sides. The current system allows young players to play on loan in the lower leagues anyway.
Dyke’s proposals allow the big sides to monopolise young talent, whilst there is no guarantee the players will be English (they have to be home grown – not English nationals). Also, Spanish B teams are able to play in the second tier, whilst 18-21 year olds in the UK would be playing against Conference teams, so the two systems are barely comparable. Furthermore, having more English players playing in the Premier League is by no means a guarantee of the England team’s success.
The lack of young English talent is undoubtedly a cause for concern, but the current proposals will benefit wealthy clubs, will harm the football league, and are unlikely to provide a solution.
What to expect from the 2014 World Cup
The most prestigious international sport- ing event is soon will be kicking off during 7th Week. To prepare everyone for what will be an exciting, samba-filled epic, here is Cherwell’s official preview of the 2014 World Cup. The FIFA World Cup, brainchild of Jules Rimet, started in Uruguay back in 1930 with 13 teams. It has grown a little since then though, with a grand total of 203 teams at- tempting to qualify. The competition will take place across Brazil, from the Amazon, to Rio de Janeiro where the famous EstaÌdio de Maracana will be packed for the final.
On home soil, with a team full of world class talent, and having won the tournament a record 5 times, not to mention thrashing Spain 3-0 to win last year’s Confederations Cup (a kind of warm-up event), it is hard to look past Brazil as favourites. Having said this, the last time they played on home soil at a World Cup, in 1950, they lost the decider to relative minnows Uruguay in front of a record 173,850 spectators.
A win in Brazil would be particularly sweet for continental rivals Argentina, who will be dreaming of replicating Uruguay’s party-ruining antics. They have a team filled with amazing attacking talents (Carlos Tevez – scorer of 31 goals for Juventus this season – did not even make the cut) including (arguably) the world’s best player Lionel Messi. Mirroring compatriot Diego Maradona, and leading Argentina to a World Cup victory would surely give Messi a claim to being the greatest player of all time.
Interestingly, no European team has ever won a World Cup in America. However, with new sports science techniques helping the players to acclimatise to the hot conditions don’t be surprised to see a European side come out on top. Star-studded Germany are well placed to win their first World Cup since 1990 given the recent success of German sides packed with home-grown stars in Europe, whilst Spain are also likely to hang around until the latter stages (it’s easy to forget that they’ve now won their last three major international tournaments).
Italy, Holland, and France will always be able to threaten on their day, although none are as consistent as the four favourites. Italy have won the tournament four times but this year’s squad seem to lack the quality of previous teams. The Dutch, under soon-to-be Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal, have a promising young side, but must overcome the mental block which has seen them fall in the final three times. The French are alternatively sublime and ridiculous on the world stage – having won the title in 1998, and been runners up in 2006, only for both 2002 and 2010 to see them crash out in the group stages in farcial circumstances.
Slightly more exotic sides with an outside chance of victory are Belgium, Uruguay and Portugal. The Belgians have recently developed a team full of young stars including Chelsea’s Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku, and are tipped to do well. Uruguay’s scary strikeforce could also leave either the Italians or England in tears, whilst Portugal led by a highly motivated Cristiano Ronaldo will be dangerous.
This may also be the year we see a team from Africa reach the semi-finals. Ghana will be hoping to repeat 2010’s form, but this time a strong Ivory Coast side boasting a Didier Drogba who will be looking for a last hurrah might be a better bet, especially as they’ve avoided a horrible draw.
The only side to have qualified for a World Cup for the first time are Bosnia and Herzegovina. They had a strong qualifying which saw them finish top of their group, their squad includes Premier League stars like Asmir Begovic and Edin Dzeko. There is no reason they can’t trouble a few of the bigger names.
Amongst all of that competition, where do England rank? Well, for once, thanks to the perpetually underwhelming ‘golden generation’, there aren’t great expecttions. In addition, England will have done well to escape from a difficult Group D which includes Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica. If they do qualify, Spain and Brazil lurk in the same half of the draw, primed and ready to ruin English dreams. However, on a more optimistic note, if a promising crop of youngsters blend well with the experienced heads, a march to the quarter-finals and potentially beyond is not totally unrealistic.