On April the 1st 1970 Liverpool polytechnic was formed. Four colleges from Liverpool, The College of commerce, the college of technology, the college of building and the art college on Hope Street formed to become Liverpool poly. Other colleges would follow in the next few years and by the time that Liverpool John Moore’s formed in 1992, 18 colleges would have been incorporated to become the largest university in Liverpool. Not only was the polytechnic was created on the day but so was the student union. Liverpool Polytechnic students union was also formed on April 1ST 1970 with all of the 4 student unions aligning to become one. This would mean that for the first time ever, the students who studied in the colleges that formed the poly would have greater representation and funding. The 1970s however were a testing time period for the students of Liverpool and the student union for a number of reasons. The root of these problems can be attributed to the students not having fair representation on the board at the polytechnic which was suggested as a potential problem in the late 60s.

The 1970s started with Liverpool polytechnic establishing who would be the union president and that system still runs today. The first president was Ian Adshead and he led Liverpool’s student union into the decade. During the 1970s, student unions and Liverpool’s student union were offered constant advice on how meetings should be set up and how elections should be ran. This for Liverpool Polytechnic was really important as they weren’t established like many of the other older unions. Therefore the advice from the NUS was really essential to ensure that students understood how important their vote was and how the majority would always be represented by their own student union. This made LiverpoolSU stronger and even in testing times it established a way of doing things despite the issues at the time and the way that it was established during the 70s is still basically the same today.

The 1970s in Liverpool are very hard to summarise in a simple way. However, the Liverpool Echo ran an article at the start of this decade putting it very simple, they stated “the city colleges were a shambles”. This shows in the best way what this decade was like for students of Liveprool, the facilities weren’t good enough and the student union needed to fight to make education in the city suitable. This decade started with this fight and this fight continued for many years. The 70s were not an easy time for students living in Merseyside but the student unions understood how to make a difference and without this effort there is not a chance Liverpool John Moore’s would be the university it is today. That is how the decade started.

In 1971 there was a positive time for student unions up and down the country and this was the election of future labour MP jack straw to become NUS president. Jack straw wanted the NUS “get off its backside and do something”. He accepted the tactics that should be involved in student protest and this set the precedent for LiverpoolSU and how they could be active in securing what students needed. This was a really big turning point for student unions, they now had a strategy to protest and Liverpool’s union used this strategy at the forefront of their work over the next decade. At the 1971 NUS conference at Lancaster University the student union newspaper Zero attended. This paper was very important in the organisation of students and how they protest. It gave the newspaper a platform of what they should care about and this learning experience of going along to the conference would normally be overlooked. However, in the 1970s especially, the use of student press was very important for LiverpoolSU, the quality of the press may not have been excellent but it offered communication to Liverpool students who did not have a central student union location. It organised students and offered a platform for their views and the attendance of the student press in its early days at this conference is a big factor.

In august of 1971 the daily post reported on how courses needed improvement and on the low standard of teaching offered at the polytechnic. These were student issues but issues that the whole city understood. How much power student unions had was a problem in the early years of LiverpoolSU since the formation of Liverpool poly.
The third president of the Students union Stan Bradford suggested that very little had been done to fight cutbacks and to improve on the standards at the colleges of the polytechnic. This is due to the student union finding its feet, it was aware of what it had to do but putting this into action didn’t really happen until 1974. The president of the NUS from 71-73 stated that Jack Pryby led the opposition against proposals to restrict finances and authority of student unions so during these few years student unions were in a state of limbo.

However, the state of the polytechnic was a continuing drama that impacted students. Facilities were awful and they were declining as the polytechnic, which was funded by the city council, attempted to find a new home to students. The student paper, zero reported in October 72 that a polytechnic site in Aigburth was an option for the colleges but two months later the same paper reported that it was not suitable and another option for the polytechnic was suggested. An example of adventurous thinking was the idea that the then derelict Albert dock would be used for the polytechnics home. This was in 1973 and of course it never happened, but for a number of years this seemed the logical step forward for the polytechnic. With all these issues you would think it would be hard to focus on student issues but the student union persisted in their primary role.

Later on in 1973 the then president Stan Bradford attended the NUS conference in London where LiverpoolSU supported a debate on how awarded funds have to be available for students as otherwise only the rich can gain access to higher education. A very important vote for the accessibility of education for all.

The following year the deputy president of the SU at the time, Paul Richardson, fought for crèches to be available for students who needed child care. This was a step that was successfully fought and again offered a greater access to education. By 1975 LiverpoolSU had opened a nursery, an example of student unions doing what they can for the students even during tough financial times. Living grants were continually fought for and demanded as justice for students was needed and LiverpoolSU strongly agreed with this throughout the decade and into the future. Fighting for student issues is of course at the root of the operations of every student union but LiverpoolSU also understood that students unions can make a difference in helping other issues.

At an NUS conference in 1974 LiverpoolSU had raised £200 to help a crisis in Chile where over 16,000 people had been killed and democracy simply did not exist, the NUS agreed they should help and declared they would make the £200 into £1000 to help the fight in Chile. This is another example of the empathy of the LiverpoolSU.

1974 was a very defining year for our students union. This is because of a critical moment that was helped by the methods Jack Straw had agreed to implement in 1971. Using the student press again to organize an action, the student union after finding its feet had worked out how they had to act in order to get the best for students. This began when 6 demands were declared by the student union. These demands had to be met by direct union action. Supported by the local Labour party a university building called Walton house was occupied. Staff redundancies had already been reported in July of this year and by the time October came around, the SU had to act.

The building was occupied and the polytechnic now knew they had a serious student union. This started a month of protests after the occupation of Walton house. Local and national demonstration took place and the WHO newspaper organized all of these. The student union took trips to London to protest. All of the Liverpool universities got together to picket to Liverpool education offices. The actions during these few weeks forced MPs to discuss student plight. These were a very turbulent few weeks but it showed how a student union can act and gain what it wants. While all of the protests did not solve every problem it showed the council ran polytechnic that student issues were important and put them into the mainstream of the city. The city of Liverpool now knew students had fight and this mentality continues today. This started here in terms of an active LiverpoolSU. By 1975 the NUS and LiverpoolSU had worked together in order to suppress students supporting radical behavior. It gave no platform for racists and fascists. It was important for the NUS to work with LiverpoolSU and the NUS offered guidance even in the most obvious of cases.

A 1981 deadline had been set for the £9million dockside site as reported by the daily post and this meant that it was still an era of uncertainty. By the end of 1975 the daily post reported again that the plans for the dockside site had been scrapped. However, in 1976, the polytechnic still wanted the dockside site. This was important as the colleges were still not reaching the level of quality needed to deliver the right standard of education. A city council vote in 76 declared 15-1 victory in favor of a dockside polytechnic. 
However, education cuts later that year rocked the polytechnic and it was reported by the Liverpool Echo that the polytechnic was hanging in the balance. It was a case of one step forward one step back through the 1970s. Student issues could have been be overlooked due to the constant debate of where the polytechnic was to be located but the student union ensured this did not happen.

In September 1976 Liverpool students simply didn’t have enough beds for the influx of fresher’s that year. Young students were entering the city and did not have a place to stay. Polytechnics were becoming popular with young people but due to the poor planning and lack of funding they were not getting what they deserved. The opinions of the student union were being expressed but with poor funding and no real idea of what was happening. It was a continuing uphill battle. Students needed £550 to live off each year but had to deal with £275. It was a very hard time to be a student in Liverpool or in general a young person in the UK. In 1978 the NUS newspaper declared how they have to now offer help for 16-19 year old students as they were struggling just as much as older students entering polytechnics and universities.

However, regardless of the tough times the student union was still always there for students of Liverpool Polytechnic. The president in 1978 Ian Humphries declared he would “make your union work” while the president at the end of the decade Tim Deykin made the union approachable. “Come and see me if you need help with anything”. LiverpoolSu was there for its students during the 1970s and it dealt with the harsh circumstances it had to suffer during this decade. The 1980s were fought just as hard but the groundwork that was built upon during the 1970s helped the student unions know how to fight and what to fight when the 1980s began.