My previous post can be found here.
Found on hullstudent.com
This year, I have noticed that there are fewer candidates for the executive positions. For example, in the past there has been roughly four or five people going for the job of President. You typically get more candidates in that election due to it’s high profile nature. However, this time we only see two and one of them is the current President. You also notice this in the elections for part-time officers as Chair Media is the only one where there is more than one person running against R.O.N. (Re-open nominations).
Other points worth noting is that there are only three women going for sabbatical positions and the fact that three of the candidates in the various elections have very similar viewpoints and policy ideas. It isn’t officially a ‘slate’ (as they aren’t allowed at HUU), but if all three were elected, there is a greater chance of a unified union view.
President
As I have mentioned, there are only two candidates this year and both of them have UEC experience. Aiden Mersh is the current President and Chris Marks was the VP Education (also the Deputy President) in 09/10.
Chris has extensive political experience, both within the university and outside it. He has been to the past four NUS Annual Conferences and if he gets elected, he would automatically go to his fifth (possibly a record). It’s worth noting that he is also standing as an NUS delegate and will possibly go, even if he loses the Presidential election.
He has also been highly prominent this year after organising HSAFC (Hull Students Against Fees & Cuts), who have occupied part of Staff House on two occasions. This activity has been noted both locally and nationally.
However, his position on the political spectrum could be seen as extreme and has the possibility of alienating sections of the student population
In his reasons for standing on his nomination form, he states consistent and clear views and if elected, the student union could be altered dramatically. There are some problems though. He wants the union to align with anybody who is against cuts (e.g. HSAFC), which is like many other student unions. However, an EGM about this matter suffered from poor attendance, so no vote could happen and action in Union Council has also failed. He doesn’t state any ideas about reducing apathy.
He is clearly against course closures and this was particularly noticeable when he was VP Education. However, funding for Higher Education has been significantly reduced. If, for example, there was a course with very few students on it and many of it’s modules are only done for that course, what is the point of keeping it? Low student numbers doesn’t increase income and it couldn’t be considered prominent. Also, how can staff be kept on if there is less money to support courses they teach on where there are only a few students?
He also wants “an end to ‘The Scheme'”. Disaffiliation from it was attempted in my sabbatical year as we felt it was unsuitable. However, union involvement is still there, presumably because no viable alternative was found. Chris does not state any alternatives. His idea of “Dodgy landlords named, shamed and blacklisted” is worth looking into though.
One of his more prominent ideas is this:
“Abolish the Trustee Board: HUU policy is ultimately controlled by a body that includes bosses and business people with interests hostile to the success of the student movement. It should be replaced by General Meetings that all students can attend.”
The student union is currently attempting to become a registered charity (it’s currently an unicorporated association – like the NUS) and that means compliance with the 2006 Charities Act. If HUU is to be a charity, it needs trustees and it is better if those people have specialist knowledge to aid with the formation of strategy. In the current Constitution, there is the following (section 6(1)(a)):
“No amendment may be made that would have effect of making the Charity cease to be a charity at law;”
This means that Chris cannot abolish the Trustee Board. It’s also worth noting that elected union officer/trustees select who can be non-student trustees. I was part of the interview panel that selected the first group of them. As for student attendance at meetings, there are student trustees and many openings for students to get involved with the union. There is a section for the dissolving the charity, but even in that case, the trustees need to remain to administer the process.
Aiden secured a large majority to win at last year’s election. He is also the member of a popular sports club, which has been an advantage in the past (e.g. Matthew Barrow, – 10/11 VP Education, Richard Jackson – 08/09 VP Academic Representation, Suzie Morris – 10/11 VP Welfare). He has also done a degree in a popular department and is much more politically moderate than Chris.
Whilst he focuses on his experience and achievements in his nomination form, he has a few policy ideas, such as “selecting 8 students at random to attend Union Council to help make decisions that matter”. Interesting, but there are a few issues. Only Council members can vote. Also, what if they are apathetic and/or are unable to attend? It would also be better if he said ‘full members’ instead of students, because students can opt out of being a member of the union
VP Education
This is also an election where there are two candidates (Matthew Barrow and Josh Hollands) and one of them is the current holder of the position.
The current VP Education (Matthew) is politically independent and benefited from being a member (and captain) of a popular sports club (he won last year’s election by 583 votes). He has been highly prominent this year and has recently launched a library reform campaign. His nomination form features a set of policies that isn’t just focused on one thing too. Whilst he had no experience as a student in any of the areas that VP Education covers, it didn’t stop him from getting elected. This has also been the case historically (e.g.Richard Jackson in 08/09).
Josh is a first year American Studies student, who is heavily involved with the prominent HSAFC group. He states that he is a socialist and is a member of SWSS (Socialist Worker Student Society) and the Education Activist Network. If both he and Chris Marks were to be elected, then it is likely they would have a strong working relationship. However, as he is a first year, he has little experience of the university. He isn’t a member of a sports club or a large union society either (not a necessity, but can be and advatage). However, his activist roots could lead to plenty of campaigning on current issues. According to his form, these could be related to anti-cuts and anti-extremism, but he doesn’t state any ideas relating to what is in the VP Education’s remit.
VP Community
Dave Helsby is a third year Economics student who has been involved with several areas that fall under the remit of VP Community (e.g. HUSSO, RAG and Hullfire). He is politically independent and has also been a member of sports club (the Kayak club) and a society (Amnesty International). Whilst he has multiple policies that don’t just focus on one area, there is a recurring theme – he doesn’t state how they could be financially viable.
For example, he wants an “part-time paid Societies Chair”, instead of the unpaid position the currently exists and is less prominent (although there is three candidates this year). It’s an interesting idea, but how will it be funded? Also, he wants:
“Fortnightly newspaper with relevant student issues, news and debates; including lists of all socieities, AU teams, contacts and meetings in every section and combine society newsletters into a new four page section: “Societies”. “Sports” section to include HUU AU sports fixtures, match reports, achievements and profiles.
Monthly features magazine to include travel, finance, fashion and culture.”
This would dramatically increase the publication frequency, which makes the printed media more up to date, but printing costs will also go up. Also, is there a guarantee that there will be enough material to fill each publication? Why not make more use of the Hull fire website?
Finally, he wants fundraising so JamRadio can move to FM. This seems like a backwards step as JamRadio is currently internet based and that is the future of much of broadcasting. Internet radio is also more accessible to the student population.
Tom Peel is the current VP Community. He is politcally independent, was part of a large department and has been involved with both sports clubs and societies. He also has the most Community zone experience (both as a student and as an officer). He has been prominent this year and was involved with the formation of a new form of media – HUU TV. He won his last election with a majority of 581 too. Whilst that shows he has a fan base, many of those supporters will have graduated and left the university. It’s also worth noting that out of the four sections in his reasons for standing, only one of them relates to policy and it focuses on residential and community issues. There are no new ideas for JamRadio, Hullfire, RAG, ISA or HUSSO.
Michaela Powell is a third year Criminology and Forensic Science student who is the current Chair of the Societies Committee. However, she doesn’t state any other society activity (or anything to do with sports or union committees). Whilst her reasons for standing has a poor layout, it does contain ideas for all areas of the VP Community remit. However, those ideas do not contain much detail.
VP Welfare
This is one of the elections where the current officer (Suzie Morris) is not standing for re-election. It is also the sabbatical election that features the most candidates (four – Kirsty Fox, Aimee Kent-Payne, Phil Pocknee, Aaron Speer). It also has the most female candidates.
Kirsty is a politically independent, third year Law with Bussiness student who has had two years experience with the Advice Centre (committee positions in something that is in the Welfare Zone). She has no sports or societies experience though, that could put her at a disadvantage in terms of votes (as I have mentioned, it shouldn’t necessarily be important, but it has been in the past). Her policies are focused on improved sexual health campaigning and also implementing a more reformist approach to ‘The Scheme’ (instead of abolishing it).
Aimee is a first year History with Art History student who has experience of dealing with Womens issues at both a union and NUS level. She is also a member of Amnesty International and the co-founder of WHAC (Women of Hull Against Cuts). Despite the fact she has little experience of the university when you compare her to the other candidates, she is likely to beenfit from any popularity that Chris Marks and Josh Hollands have. This is because her nomination form contains ideas and opinions that are very similar. She also wants to do a Stop Smoking campaign and briefly mentioned the need to improve Welfare provisions on the Scarborough campus.
Phil has been involved with the Welfare Zone for each of the years that he has been a student and is a two-time Black Students Officer. He has executive experience of a society (Bounce Treasurer) and a sports club (Basketball Treasurer). He is a student in a big department and is a member of a party that often does well in HUU elections – Labour (for example, 3 out of the past four Presidents have been Labour supporters). His nomination form benefits from having key policy areas as well as priority campaign ideas.
Aaron has been a course rep and has experience on Union Council. He has also been involved with a sports club and a society. As a fourth year BPLS student, he benefits from plenty of university experience and being on a popular course. He is politically independent though. Unfortunately, his nomination form is more of a job description and contains no detailed policies or campaign ideas.
VP Sport
This is the other sabbatical election where the current officer (Ash Lord) isn’t standing for re-election. The candidates are Ash Armitage and Amy Todd. Both are final year students on Business related courses and have plenty of experience with the AU, however Ash was on the AU exec. He was also the Deputy Chair of Union Council. Amy is the only Scarborough student standing for a sabb position that isn’t VP Scarborough this year and has club committee experience (so does Ash). They are also both poltically independent. Even though they both don’t have experience of the other campus, Amy is the only one to mention the other one on her form.
VP Scarborough
Last year, Matthew Brown won his election by only 36 votes. This year he is standing again and his opponent is first year Creative Music Technology student, Alex Rodgers. Alex is also the Scarborough Campaigns Officer for this year, so he has worked closely with Matthew. Alex is independent, whereas Matthew is a Labour supporter. The biggest difference though is experience. Matthew has a BA (Business and Management) from Scarborough and an MA (Globalization and Governance) from Hull, which gives him experience of both campuses (worth noting he was doing a Hull-based course when he was campaigning for his current position). He is also a North East Lincolnshire Councillor. Alex doesn’t have much experience of the university at all and has no sports or society memberships to make him more well-known.
In terms of policies, Matthew covers multiple areas in detail, whereas Alex goes for a more simple approach, where he has two sentences on courses and inclusivity as part of a large paragraph on his nomination form.
Part-time Officers
The number of candidates is disappointing. The Chairs of ISA and Campaigns only have one each (Komal Tariq – ISA, Kora-Lee Holmes – Campaigns). There are three people going for Chair Media – David Bender, Dominic Fogg and Jon Hall. David has plenty of policy ideas, but has no media experience and is the only candidate not to mention HUUTV. Dominic is the only one who mentions a political affiliation (Liberal), has more experience of media (on the Hullfire exec) and his membership of a sports club could increase his number of possible voters. Jon has been ivolved with sports and societies and has the most media experience (Hullfire writer and JamRadio Secretary/Treasurer). He also has specific ideas for Hullfire, JamRadio and HUUTV development.
Finally…
Overall, I am disappointed by the number of candidates and also the number of them that are women. However, there is a good variety of policies and there are people from various departments and backgrounds.
My next post will be about the candidates for other positions.
So, what do you think?