Staffordshire University has continued to be a politics-free zone after university authorities failed to come to an agreement with Conservative students.
While undergraduates have traditionally been seen as ready to protest at the drop of a hat, political apathy at Staffordshire University has gained such a grip that none of the three main parties have any presence.
There is a student society dedicated to supporting George Galloway's Respect Party, but none for the Labour, Conservative or Liberal Democrat parties.
The university, which has campuses in Stafford and Stoke, insists students are free to get involved with party politics but choose not to.
But the Conservatives claim they have been banned, and have set up an online petition urging the university to back down. Their campaign is led by Owen Meredith, a student at Keele University, also in Staffordshire, which already has a Conservative club.
He says that when he tried to set up a branch at Staffordshire, he was turned away.
Mr Meredith appealed to the university's managers to overturn the ruling, but they backed the student union.
The university and student union insist there is no ban on political parties, but there is a ban on outside organisations coming on to campus and attempting to recruit students.
Mr Meredith said: "I wrote formally to Staffordshire University last month, requesting permission to be on campus, handing out leaflets etc, to promote both Conservative Future and the Party as a whole.
"If, as they say, they have no such
policy, surely it would be very simple for them to respond to my request allowing me to be on campus?"
