A WORKING-CLASS student from Mirfield has told how he was bullied at Oxford University because of his Yorkshire roots.

Joe Cooke, 22, had ambitions to be a Tory MP – until he became a figure of ridicule at Oxford.

Joe, brought up by single mum Janet after dad Brian was jailed for drug dealing, hauled himself to the top academically but found himself the target of the public school elite.

Joe, who beat dyslexia and dyspraxia to win a place at Oxford, thought he knew what to expect but wasn’t prepared for the ferocity of the hatred he encountered.

Joe, of Taylor Hall Lane, Mirfield, challenged the snobs but ended up disillusioned and is now ready to quit Britain for the United States.

Joe, who studied A-levels at Greenhead College in Huddersfield, told the Examiner: “I had the best education at Oxford and I regret nothing.

“I enjoyed my education while I was there but it was the only time in my life I doubted myself.

“I changed who I was and changed my accent and it wasn’t worth selling myself out. I know that now.

“It wasn’t the university to blame, it was the Conservative clique.”

Joe, who has a sister Alexandra, tried to beat the elite by being elected president of the Oxford University Conservative Association, a renowned stepping stone for would-be Tory MPs.

But his efforts at reforming the organisation and ending what he described as the “debauchery” he found were thwarted.

He was subjected to comments such as “by gum” and “pork pie” whenever he spoke and was dubbed “sinister ginger” and likened to Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe.

“I went to Oxford naive and came out a realist,” said Joe. “Some of my dreams were burnt and some of my ambitions are in tatters.”

Joe’s story was told in a BBC2 documentary ‘Young, Bright and on the Right’ last night (Thurs).

Joe, born deaf in one ear, struggled at primary school but his life changed aged 14 at Mirfield’s Castle Hall School.

“I remember coming bottom in religious education and even people I thought were pretty dumb were laughing at me,” said Joe.

“I vowed there and then that I would never fail again.

“I started at 4.30am and finished at 10.30pm, working at least 12 hours a day. Within a year my grades went up 40%.”

Joe achieved 11 A* GCSEs and four As at A-level and went on to study philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford.

Joe re-invented himself to be elected president of the university Conservative Association and tried to steer it away from socialising to politics, including cutting the £10,000 annual bill for port.

But his efforts were doomed and towards the end of his time in office he went into hospital for surgery on a detached retina.

While he was away his modernisation measures were voted down.

Joe resigned and the university later banned the organisation over irregularities.

Joe is back in Mirfield but has several offers to take up political internships in Washington DC.

“I want to spend at least 10 years out there and have a family,” he said. “But I will certainly return to Yorkshire.”