Boris has got a tough job ahead of him
Boris Johnson's appointment as Conservative higher education spokesman is a canny move. He is one of the most recognisable Tories, but not because he is a hate figure – in fact, he also is also popular, especially among younger voters.
His fame stems from light entertainment (Have I Got News For You), his visit to Liverpool and having his private life splashed across the tabloids. He isn't associated with past Tory policy disasters, and most people will be able to forgive the odd sex scandal. Even better for most students, he voted against top-up fees in 2004 – as did David Cameron, for that matter.
Of all the country's politicians, you can imagine Boris being among the most likely to fill lecture halls if (presumably when) he embarks on a charm offensive. There would be laughter, excitement, a queue for autographs...
But there's a problem on the horizon. The Conservative policy is no longer to oppose tuition fees: Cameron revealed his u-turn during the leadership campaign. "Some form of co-payment is almost certainly the correct way forward," he wrote in the Times Higher Education Supplement. "I have said that the Conservative party's position on university funding needs to change."
So Boris is going to be saddled with persuading students that they should pay tuition fees – and possibly higher tuition fees. If the Tories keep any of their higher education policy from the last election they might call for higher rates of interest in student loans as well.
It's a hard sell, not only for all the non-Tory students (and there are a lot of them), but also for Conservative Future – the organisation representing members under 30, including university societies. A trawl through their website's archive reveals that they might need some persuading: "Labour's fee scheme is so badly designed that it will massively increase student debt while failing to provide any significant new revenue for universities."
Which is probably true, but apart from that top-up fees "are a clear breach of [Labour's] promise at the last election". Little chance of them joining the new consensus, then. "The next Conservative Government will scrap top-up fees, and the tuition fees which Labour introduced in 1998."
"We believe that all politicians must keep their promises to students." Boris has certainly got his work cut out.
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