Kit Friend is Chair of the Arts Group, and Campaigns & Communications Officer at the University of the Arts London Students’ Union (SUARTS). He has led the creation and development of the formation of the Arts Group, representing students of creative disciplines nationwide since 2008. Their principal activities have included lobbying for an end to the mass exploitation of unpaid interns in the creative industries and parliament, and to raise the perceived value of creative practitioners (in response to lifetime earnings dropping so low that many arts graduates are actually worth less because of their degree). As Chair of Finance & Resources at NUS Services Ltd he has pushed for a higher profile and range of distinct services for the arts within the student movement, currently working on the launch of a national student design agency. In April 2010 he stood as the Conservative Future candidate in National Union of Students’ Officer Elections.