Exec elections: Low candidate turnout

Standing for the Exec elections closed last Friday at 5pm, with the final number of candidates standing at 48, with all the positions contested.

In 2016’s elections 105 candidates stood for the Exec positions, with 10,169 students voting in the elections, short of the record-breaking 13,500 from 2015.

The Exec Officers of the University of Manchester Students’ Union are the eight full time representatives of students at The University of Manchester. The roles are General Secretary, Education Officer, Women’s Officer, Diversity Officer, Wellbeing Officer, Activities & Development Officer, Campaigns and Citizenship Officer and Community Officer.

The position with the highest number of candidates this year is Diversity, with nine running for the role, while Campaigns and Citizenship only has three candidates standing, the lowest of the eight positions.
The current Exec Team were hailed last year for being the most diverse in Union history. The breakdown of this year’s candidates show that 42 per cent of candidates are white, 10 per cent black or black British and 21 per cent Chinese.

Naa Acquah has held the position of General Secretary for two consecutive years, and therefore is ineligible to run again, and seven students have put themselves forward to replace her.

Events will be happening across campus in the run-up to the elections to get as many people involved in the election activity — if you are interested in setting up your own event the Students’ Union urge you to get in touch with your society co-ordinator.

A spokesperson for the Students’ Union told The Mancunion: “We’re pleased with the number of candidates standing this year and we look forward to seeing them out and about engaging with students finding out their needs and wants.

“These elections are at the heart of why we as a union exist and look forward to what the candidates will bring”.

They also stressed the importance those who are elected will play “in the development of the new Students’ Union building. This is the first time the building has undergone such a major investment since 1957 — your vote in deciding this team will be crucial to the future Union’s development”.

Finally, they add that “whilst recognising that numbers were lower than the unprecedented numbers last year, the group overseeing the elections this year have heavily invested in raising potential candidates’ awareness of the different roles on the University of Manchester’s Students Union’s Executive team, and their key role in representing student views to the university”.

To see whose running visit the University of Manchester Students’ Union website: manchesterstudentsunion.com.

Voting opens on 3rd of March at 12:00pm and runs until the 9th of March 5:00pm, with the results being announced that evening.