With twelve days to go before the general election, Cambridge University Labour Club launched its general election campaign with an event at Trinity College on Saturday night.

In Trinity’s Old Combination Room, CULC launched its campaign to elect Labour candidate Daniel Zeichner and dethrone incumbent Liberal Democrat MP Julian Huppert.

Speaking during the event, Zeichner, who currently works as a national political officer for UNISON, robustly defended the trade union movement. He said that he was 'proud' to be a member of a trade union, arguing that they had an integral part to play in helping to resolve Britain’s economic problems.

He also reaffirmed his commitment to fight, if elected, to push hard for the living wage in Cambridge, saying that the Lib Dems had failed to act on wages, and praising the actions of Labour-controlled Cambridge City Council in tackling low pay.

Speaking exclusively to Varsity, Zeichner stated that he thought the campaign was “going very well”, but emphasised that students were “absolutely critical”in a race where there is “no certainty about the outcome”.

He reiterated that a Lib Dem victory in Cambridge would result in a Conservative government, pointing to comments made on Saturday by Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, who stated that a government formed by the second-largest party in the House of Commons would lack legitimacy. Clegg’s comments were seized on by constitutional expert Vernon Bogdanor, who said that such rules were ‘absurd’.

To those who did not want a Conservative government, Zeichner said, “it’s got to be Labour”.

Talking about the progress that had been made thus far, CULC chair Rory Weal said that the group had a “really, really good start to the term”, pointing to the success of the poster campaign featuring Katie Hopkins, which attracted coverage in the national press, and Owen Jones’s recent visit.

He urged those who are considering voting Green to look at the policies Labour are proposing, stating that Labour had a “fully costed, fully thought-through plan” to deal with tax avoidance and tax evasion.

Weal labelled incumbent Lib Dem MP Julian Huppert “misguided” and “often disingenuous”. He added that: “He’s not this radical, independent voice…his voting record is much more similar to Michael Gove’s than to Caroline Lucas’s, and I think that says a lot”.

The launch offered an opportunity for CULC members and Labour supporters to sign up to contribute and campaign in the run-up to the election on 7th May.

@JPRobbo