YUSU elections 2010: Nominations open

I remember voting in the 2008 elections, when I was a fresher, and it surprises me how little I knew about the process. One sabbatical candidate spoke to me at length about his campaign, and secured my vote; for every other position, I voted based after reading their nomination forms, which were handily uploaded to the YUSU website. I can’t help but wonder how many students use a similar method when voting; I’m not sure I would have attended Hustings last year if I hadn’t been writing a story on them.

That said, for better or worse I’m now much more aware of what goes on during the election period; I was in contact with Returning Officer Tom Scott last year on an almost-daily basis, checking rules here and there to ensure that neither the candidates nor The Yorker were in breach of them. I’m quite excited about this year’s elections, in particular the Sabbatical positions as I’d imagine I’ll know a fair few candidates personally. I’ve already been asked to be on the campaign team of one potential candidate, which was oddly flattering.

Speaking of potential candidates, I feel no elections blog would be complete without taking a look at those who are rumoured to be running. Nouse caught election fever early this year, and former Editor Henry James Foy has blogged frequently about those rumoured to be running. I can only apologise for repeating a lot of names he’s already mentioned, but I’ve heard a few he hasn’t and feel it would be unfair to give them favourable treatment. It goes without saying that these rumours are, of course, entirely in my opinion.

Current Chair of Union Council, David Levene, has long been linked with the position of President – I’d heard that rumour before Foy’s first elections blog. Talk of current YUSU President, Tim Ngwena, caught me by surprise, but given his performance in the role this year there’s no doubt that he’s a more than capable candidate. Matthew Freckleton, Company Director of the York Student Market, will be quite interesting to watch, as rumour has it he’ll be launching a strong viral marketing campaign. My first new name to add to the elections mix is Mark Pickard, who is well known among his fellow History students and NGS members, if not elsewhere on campus. If talk of Pickard running for President proves to be true, he’ll certainly be this year’s dark horse. Speaking of dark horses, last year’s Presidential candidate Grant Bradley told The Yorker at the elections result night that he was intending to run again, although as far as I can tell he’s no longer a student at the university.

The other names being bandied about for President seem less likely to run, in my opinion. I’ve been told that Ellie Kuper Thomas, current YUSU Women’s Officer alongside Amal Ali, was never serious about running. And as inspiring as the campaign for head of Doorsafe Steve Miller is, I’d be surprised to see him run for either President or Democracy and Services Officer. Given that former Derwent Chair Oliver Lester seems to have a large hand in this surely humorous campaign, I think it’s unlikely that the rumours of him running, which have existed since before last year’s elections, will prove to be true.

Nouse announced earlier this week that their Sports Editor, Adam Shergold, would not be running for York Sport President after all. There’s been talk about Shergold, who is a History Board of Studies Rep, running for Academic Affairs or Democracy and Services instead, so perhaps distancing himself from Emily Scott’s position was a clever ploy. I’m reminded of Rory Shanks refuting rumours of running for President last year, and then running for Student Activities instead. So can we expect to see Shergold up against the rumoured candidates for Academic Affairs Officer – Matt Bailey, Ben Humphrys and Jason Rose? Or competing with Sam Daniels, Chris Etheridge and Dan Walker for D&S? He appears likely to have a strong support base, whatever he decides to runs for, so no doubt other potential candidates will be watching him with interest.

Shergold is not alone in being linked for various positions; former college Chairs Ollie Hutchings, Joe Rankin and Roberto Powell, of Alcuin, Derwent and Halifax respectively, are all rumoured to be running for a Sabbatical position, though no one seems to know which one. All three have been linked to Democracy and Services, whilst Hutchings and Powell have also been linked to the role of President. Little has been said about Amber Brittain or Dani Fill, former Chairs of James and Vanbrugh, running for anything; I haven’t heard anything about Brittain’s future plans, but I’m led to believe Fill is uninterested in taking up a role within YUSU.

In his most recent blog, Foy seemed disappointed at the lack of rumours surrounding the Part-Time Officer positions, but perhaps he should not be too surprised. It’s worth remembering that in last year’s elections, only two part-time positions had more than one candidate – RAG Officer and LGBT Officer. Environment and Ethics Officer David Clarke is believed to be very interested in rerunning for his current position, though it is unclear whether he will be running with someone or as a lone candidate. The only other rumour I’ve heard his that Nick Hall, who ran unsuccessfully for Vanbrugh Chair last term, might be running for Campaigns Officer.

Moving back to the Sabbatical positions, with Hannah Barwick-Walters, Rachel Hesselwood, Luke Malkin, Nick Scarlett and Katy Unsworth all being linked to the role of Student Activites, the competition for Rhianna Kinchin’s job looks fierce. The race for York Sport President and Welfare Officer appears less hot, with only Sam Asfahani and Rob Newton linked to the former, and LGBT Officer Peter Warner-Medley possibly running for the latter unopposed. But anything could happen between now and next Friday, when nominations close; no doubt when the list of candidates is revealed, there’ll be some surprises, and I’m sure we’ll all hear several rumours between now and then.

The opinions expressed above are those of the author, and are not intended to be representative of The Yorker.

Add Comment

You must log in to submit a comment.