And the election madness has begun! 

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this, as the dozens of banners and posters on campus probably tipped you off (as well as the emails from us, the social media requests form candidates, and the crazy costumes the different teams have put on to try and get votes). 

This week is extremely exciting for us in the Students’ Union. There are several reasons for this. First, because we are a student-led organisation, this is the week when we elect the six students who will, in fact, lead the organisation for twelve months starting in June this year. These six people will not only decide a lot for the SU – about events, about our offer in commercial terms, and the priorities for us as a charity – but they will also be the voice of students. Being a student representative is about a lot more than just having your face on the wall as you walk into the SU building. It means going to meetings with all different kind of stakeholders – from university staff to local politicians, to members of parliament, to actual royalty – and making sure that students’ interests are looked after here at Bath.  

It’s a big job.  

Having the right person in it can make a massive difference.  

The people who get to decide who gets the job are you and your fellow students! So please, engage with the elections. I cannot emphasise this enough. You should care about who leads your union. The ways to engage can be a lot of different ones, as long as they end in your voting. But some of the useful information can be: 

• Watching candidates’ 1-minute manifesto on our SU YouTube channel, link here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheSUBath  

• Watching the different roles ‘Questions to Candidates’ (our version of Hustings), also on our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheSUBath  

• Read the candidates profiles and manifestos, on our website: https://www.thesubath.com/elections/runforsuofficer/candidates/  

• Go follow their social media and see what their campaigns are about (I won’t try and link them all here, as there are 27 candidates in total). 

• Speak to them on the Parade, where they’ll be with their campaign team throughout the week to answer any questions.  

Voting closes tomorrow at 5:00 PM, so don’t miss your chance to have a say! 

My personal goal is to reach 30% voter turnout in the election. As I write this, we’re on 17.5%. Go help make this politics nerd’s dreams come true! 

I’m around if you have any questions about any of this. If not, I’ll catch you during my next update. In the meantime, be democratically active and be kind to one another.  

Much love, 

Jiji x