Many people have asked me over the last few days for my thoughts, predictions and other ideas for the races that are going to happen in 12 months time. It's a hard one to really scope out.
Thinking back to twelve months ago, the money then was that I was would run again this year - against Josh & Adam - in a re-run of last year's External Convener battle. People suggested that Tom French & Steven Lauder would slug it out against Sara Bodle running for VPSA. No one would have mentioned Ben, Anna or Bruce for VPAA and Kwan was fairly unsure if he'd stand again. And Chris Arnold was as anti-EUSA as you could get, let alone thinking about a stab at VPS. Twelve months ago, so many varied names were being suggested from within those elected back then, that you might have put money against any of them.
To use the Grand National analogy a final time - predicting this far out, is like attempting to predict the runners in that race, without seeing what they do in between, knowing their form in the mean time, knowing their handicaps and their advantages.
In twelve months, EUSA could be a very different political animal, and the forthcoming year's Sabbs (those who have just been elected) could turn people on or off to EUSA depending on what they do.
Looking at it objectively, you can pick anyone on CoM or SRC Exec or in SRC and say "they will run because ..." and make your own reasons. People like Katherine Sellar, Nick Ward and Guy Bromley are inevitably going to be linked with standing next year. People who've just been elected for the first time may also be linked with a possible race next year. The issue is - as I say above - what will the next 8 months bring before people begin to make their minds up?
What about the people who aren't "EUSA people" currently? The likes of Will Searle, Chris Arnold and Chris Williams - people who before the beginning of February most people hadn't heard about, and most people would never have imagined standing.
What I want to see is a completely different thing (forgive the political sounding-ness of what follows). I want to see elections for Sabbaticals that are well challenged and where the electorate has a big cross-section of people to choose from. I want to see people from outside EUSA stand, and take part in elections. And I want to see new ideas in the election campaigns. Of course there are people I'd like to see stand and then go on to win, but this far out, I don't know if they will stand come next February.
Put simply - to predict now would be foolhardy, and the merits of it would be very questionable. Feel free to comment.
Showing posts with label Bruce Golding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bruce Golding. Show all posts
Friday, 9 March 2007
Saturday, 3 March 2007
Post Race Analysis - SRC
So, with the Exec/Officers covered, who else was elected to the SRC. And how could they affect the policy outcomes. With many more school reps & ordinary members the situation is slightly different, but I'll take a look at who might be shaping the decisions.
Looking across the schools, its great to see that all schools bar one have members filling seats, and are therefore represented - I hope that the October election see a top up with the remaining seats filled. In amongst the mix are a number of returning members, and it is good to see continued involvement - the likes of Adam Apostoli in ACE, Stephen McFadden in Chemistry, Stewart Martin in GeoSci, Ben P in History, Bruce Golding in Maths, Ondrej Nenadl in Physics to name some.
Equally pleasing is the number of new names in the school seats, many of whom stood on manifestos which obviously really engaged with students and got people in their respective schools to vote for them; people like Rosy Burgess in BioSci, Karen Apitzch in Management or Gabriel Arafa in PPLS (even if Gabriel has been on the fringes for a while).
Going onto the Ordinary Members, this is a bit of an old hacks convention. With Tim Goodwin, Tim Gee & Tash Shotton all making the cut in the first two rounds, and Pete Harris joining them after a 14 round slog (surely he should have done better?), this part of the ballot really doesn't have too much new. The first round however did bring the surprise of the massive total for Hannah Critchlow, who's only campaign credentials seem to be her green-ness. Also elected in this round was Adam Ramsay. On the night, I'm sure that this didn't seem like an important win, but this gives Adam the chance to put something back into the SRC, and to what extent he does, depends on how much he feels like re-involving himself, as I noted below. So after 5 candidates being elected in Rounds 1 & 2, it took 'til round 11 before another, and I'm sure Stephen Allinson's fairtrade stance no doubt won him a few votes along the way - as well as being top of the ballot paper; a similar sentiment can probably be attributed to Ellie Price's victory a couple of rounds later. Also joining Pete in the final round were George Thomas and Anne Clark.
So who are these "ordinary" people? Well - the majority seem to be Green or Labour, with only a couple of independents thrown in. Most are hack, and are heavily involved in EUSA. What it may mean is that the debates in SRC are going to be heavily polarised. It could also be highly "intelligent" debate. We'll wait and see.
Looking across the schools, its great to see that all schools bar one have members filling seats, and are therefore represented - I hope that the October election see a top up with the remaining seats filled. In amongst the mix are a number of returning members, and it is good to see continued involvement - the likes of Adam Apostoli in ACE, Stephen McFadden in Chemistry, Stewart Martin in GeoSci, Ben P in History, Bruce Golding in Maths, Ondrej Nenadl in Physics to name some.
Equally pleasing is the number of new names in the school seats, many of whom stood on manifestos which obviously really engaged with students and got people in their respective schools to vote for them; people like Rosy Burgess in BioSci, Karen Apitzch in Management or Gabriel Arafa in PPLS (even if Gabriel has been on the fringes for a while).
Going onto the Ordinary Members, this is a bit of an old hacks convention. With Tim Goodwin, Tim Gee & Tash Shotton all making the cut in the first two rounds, and Pete Harris joining them after a 14 round slog (surely he should have done better?), this part of the ballot really doesn't have too much new. The first round however did bring the surprise of the massive total for Hannah Critchlow, who's only campaign credentials seem to be her green-ness. Also elected in this round was Adam Ramsay. On the night, I'm sure that this didn't seem like an important win, but this gives Adam the chance to put something back into the SRC, and to what extent he does, depends on how much he feels like re-involving himself, as I noted below. So after 5 candidates being elected in Rounds 1 & 2, it took 'til round 11 before another, and I'm sure Stephen Allinson's fairtrade stance no doubt won him a few votes along the way - as well as being top of the ballot paper; a similar sentiment can probably be attributed to Ellie Price's victory a couple of rounds later. Also joining Pete in the final round were George Thomas and Anne Clark.
So who are these "ordinary" people? Well - the majority seem to be Green or Labour, with only a couple of independents thrown in. Most are hack, and are heavily involved in EUSA. What it may mean is that the debates in SRC are going to be heavily polarised. It could also be highly "intelligent" debate. We'll wait and see.
Friday, 2 March 2007
Post-Race Analysis - VPAA
It's hard to critique a race in which all four of the candidates were running and standing on nearly exactly the same issues. With the candidates all approaching the race with the same stand point, and the real lack of tension between them (come on, have you ever seen such a bunch of nice opponents), the only thing going for this race was the fact that four people were standing. That and perhaps the old/new Labour battle: Bruce is a senior Labour Club member, appearing in a party broadcast (as seen on YouTube) for the Labour Party, so it was perhaps a surprise that the majority of Labour Club members were on Ben's team ... or more crucially that Ben was on Josh's team, something I had seen when he went into a Josh campaign meeting on Tuesday night.
The fight itself played out like the Presidential race from last year, except that this time new Labour (Ben) didn't defeat Green (Anna). Anna's win obviously was a shining moment for the Green/P&P group (contrast Tim Gee's reaction with Anna, with that of Josh), and I'm not too surprised she won. As I said to her 4 weeks ago at the Politics Away Weekend, she was always going into this race as odds-on favourite, more so especially as the only female sabb candidate. She went for the Sabrina Russo Method: pretty picture on the posters, combined with a strong manifesto. I doubt it was all down to this, but in an election which didn't set the pulses racing, it's hard to tell.
It'll be an interesting year in the next SRC, with Bruce returned to Mathematics and Ben to History & Classics, it'll only be Kwan not at the SRC, which is a step down after 2 years of heavily committed time on many EUSA and Uni committees. I would like to see Kwan make a return - hopefully in the October elections as Physics Rep, and I am sure that Bruce & Ben will continue to do a damn good job in their respecitve schools.
The fight itself played out like the Presidential race from last year, except that this time new Labour (Ben) didn't defeat Green (Anna). Anna's win obviously was a shining moment for the Green/P&P group (contrast Tim Gee's reaction with Anna, with that of Josh), and I'm not too surprised she won. As I said to her 4 weeks ago at the Politics Away Weekend, she was always going into this race as odds-on favourite, more so especially as the only female sabb candidate. She went for the Sabrina Russo Method: pretty picture on the posters, combined with a strong manifesto. I doubt it was all down to this, but in an election which didn't set the pulses racing, it's hard to tell.
It'll be an interesting year in the next SRC, with Bruce returned to Mathematics and Ben to History & Classics, it'll only be Kwan not at the SRC, which is a step down after 2 years of heavily committed time on many EUSA and Uni committees. I would like to see Kwan make a return - hopefully in the October elections as Physics Rep, and I am sure that Bruce & Ben will continue to do a damn good job in their respecitve schools.
Thursday, 1 March 2007
Live Results - VPAA
Now the VPAA results,
After 3 Schools, Anna is leading Kwan, 25-15
After Law & Medicine (5 Schools), Anna is leading Ben 169-144
After 9 Schools (inc Vet & Politics), Anna is leading Ben 353-239
After 12 Schools, Anna is leading Ben 493-325
After 15 Schools (inc BioSci), Anna is leading Ben 726-473
After 18 Schools (inc GeoSci), Anna is leading Ben 938-647
With 4 remaining, Anna is leading Ben 1275-854
At the end of Round 1, Kwan - 715; Anna - 1359; Bruce - 401; Ben - 941
At the end of Round 2, Kwan - 767; Anna - 1467; Ben - 1049
At the end of Round 3, Anna - 1771; Ben - 1239
Anna Davidson is the next EUSA VPAA
Congrats to Anna - no idea what her song was!
After 3 Schools, Anna is leading Kwan, 25-15
After Law & Medicine (5 Schools), Anna is leading Ben 169-144
After 9 Schools (inc Vet & Politics), Anna is leading Ben 353-239
After 12 Schools, Anna is leading Ben 493-325
After 15 Schools (inc BioSci), Anna is leading Ben 726-473
After 18 Schools (inc GeoSci), Anna is leading Ben 938-647
With 4 remaining, Anna is leading Ben 1275-854
At the end of Round 1, Kwan - 715; Anna - 1359; Bruce - 401; Ben - 941
At the end of Round 2, Kwan - 767; Anna - 1467; Ben - 1049
At the end of Round 3, Anna - 1771; Ben - 1239
Anna Davidson is the next EUSA VPAA
Congrats to Anna - no idea what her song was!
Wednesday, 28 February 2007
Turning for Home
Having negotiated the Presidential Debates, the candidates have less than 36hrs to convince the electorate that they are indeed the right people for the job, as they turn for home in this marathon race.
First off - congratulations to Tim Goodwin and the current Sabbs for a very successful Presidential Debate: the Debating Hall was full, there was something of an atmosphere, but the one problem that still remained was that the majority of people in the room already knew who they were going to vote for. The question remains, how to get "non-hacks" involved and interested.
So what happened at the Debates? Well to be brutally honest, not much. The debates lacked the fiery passion and biting comment between the candidates that one might have expected. In fact only one particular thing stands out - Tom French admitted that he cannot deliver on his manifesto: after being questioned by Tim Gee about the promises he has made (many of which are already being delivered), Tom said that his manifesto was more or less undeliverable. It's a statement like that, that the electorate should know about, and it is a shame that the majority won't.
The other candidates last night all performed, but special mention must go to Chris Williams: I came to the Debates not knowing much about him, and quite sceptical about all he stood for - but the way Chris spoke last night about certain issues, put him far ahead of Adam Ramsay & Josh MacAllister. Chris realised that standing is not about being a EUSA Hack, and that it is about getting involved and getting "ordinary students" involved. Adam, however came across as rather patronising and attempted to put Chris down at every opportunity.
In the VPAA battle, you still couldn't separate them with a cigarette paper - all have very similar policies, and their performances last night were all very similar and I for one can't call the elections.
So, the candidates have negotiated the "country three" fences, and there don't appear to have been any real fallers (other than maybe Tom French) - six fences out, and the long home run in, its going to be an interesting race.
First off - congratulations to Tim Goodwin and the current Sabbs for a very successful Presidential Debate: the Debating Hall was full, there was something of an atmosphere, but the one problem that still remained was that the majority of people in the room already knew who they were going to vote for. The question remains, how to get "non-hacks" involved and interested.
So what happened at the Debates? Well to be brutally honest, not much. The debates lacked the fiery passion and biting comment between the candidates that one might have expected. In fact only one particular thing stands out - Tom French admitted that he cannot deliver on his manifesto: after being questioned by Tim Gee about the promises he has made (many of which are already being delivered), Tom said that his manifesto was more or less undeliverable. It's a statement like that, that the electorate should know about, and it is a shame that the majority won't.
The other candidates last night all performed, but special mention must go to Chris Williams: I came to the Debates not knowing much about him, and quite sceptical about all he stood for - but the way Chris spoke last night about certain issues, put him far ahead of Adam Ramsay & Josh MacAllister. Chris realised that standing is not about being a EUSA Hack, and that it is about getting involved and getting "ordinary students" involved. Adam, however came across as rather patronising and attempted to put Chris down at every opportunity.
In the VPAA battle, you still couldn't separate them with a cigarette paper - all have very similar policies, and their performances last night were all very similar and I for one can't call the elections.
So, the candidates have negotiated the "country three" fences, and there don't appear to have been any real fallers (other than maybe Tom French) - six fences out, and the long home run in, its going to be an interesting race.
Thursday, 22 February 2007
News, Gossip and Rumours
A quick posting before I sleep, nearly 5 posts in one day should keep all those who read this blog happy!
Posters are coming up ... and down: Lots of candidates had their posters up today, including the first major tranche of posters from Kwan Ting Chan, Bruce Golding & Josh MacAlister, and a second batch of posters from Adam Ramsay. Photos to follow. However, the afternoon brought more disconcerting news as it appears that Josh's posters have come down in Pollock, whilst all the posters on the West and North sides of George Square suffered the same fate.
The Anti-Labour Webpage seems to be causing a stir, but at the same time are people just not bothered?
Manifesto Detail: One sources has told me that the reason that Josh is delaying his website's detailed manifesto because Adam hasn't been bothered to launch a proper website yet. However, this evening brings signs of a manifesto on Josh's site. Is Adam really bothered by a website or is he just relying on a P&P vote?
Real candidate gives his views: In what is surely a first in the EUSA Elections, Will Searle has decided to go with a web interview on YouTube (and syndicated through his website and Facebook group) to explain to people who is really is. A really new an innovative idea and something no other candidate can do without just seeming to be copying. No doubt this is a vote winner. Kudos where its due for the new idea.
Funny story of the day: I was in Tesco's this evening, which is itself not unusual. I was recognised by the check out assistant who thought I was standing in the elections - after I had corrected her (and told her she was a year late), she asked for my thoughts on this year's race. After mentioning some of the candidates she asked me about Tom & Adam .... asking if they are "always together" and if they are "together". I asked if she meant that they were working together on the same 'team'. Apparently not - she was asking if they were an item, because people only ever seem to see them together. Seems EUSA has its latest couple ...
Posters are coming up ... and down: Lots of candidates had their posters up today, including the first major tranche of posters from Kwan Ting Chan, Bruce Golding & Josh MacAlister, and a second batch of posters from Adam Ramsay. Photos to follow. However, the afternoon brought more disconcerting news as it appears that Josh's posters have come down in Pollock, whilst all the posters on the West and North sides of George Square suffered the same fate.
The Anti-Labour Webpage seems to be causing a stir, but at the same time are people just not bothered?
Manifesto Detail: One sources has told me that the reason that Josh is delaying his website's detailed manifesto because Adam hasn't been bothered to launch a proper website yet. However, this evening brings signs of a manifesto on Josh's site. Is Adam really bothered by a website or is he just relying on a P&P vote?
Real candidate gives his views: In what is surely a first in the EUSA Elections, Will Searle has decided to go with a web interview on YouTube (and syndicated through his website and Facebook group) to explain to people who is really is. A really new an innovative idea and something no other candidate can do without just seeming to be copying. No doubt this is a vote winner. Kudos where its due for the new idea.
Funny story of the day: I was in Tesco's this evening, which is itself not unusual. I was recognised by the check out assistant who thought I was standing in the elections - after I had corrected her (and told her she was a year late), she asked for my thoughts on this year's race. After mentioning some of the candidates she asked me about Tom & Adam .... asking if they are "always together" and if they are "together". I asked if she meant that they were working together on the same 'team'. Apparently not - she was asking if they were an item, because people only ever seem to see them together. Seems EUSA has its latest couple ...
Saturday, 17 February 2007
Looking at ... The Association (Sabbs)
So with the nominations closed, and whilst the candidates are furiously working away touching up their manifestos before the Monday deadline, and everyone pouring over the details in everyone else's battle plans, now is the time to consider the election at hand. Who's standing, what does the initial out look mean, and the rest.
So President first. Well, whilst I'd like to suggest it would be a three way battle, Adam & Josh do have the front running ground. Josh's teaser campaign might leave it late for him to show who he really is, but I've no idea if there are sufficient hits to his website to make up for this. Adam's website is "still coming" (I was in this position last year, so won't throw too many stones), but it does currently look like an extention of the Mark Ballard factory. It looks tacky, and compared with what has been so far a very poor poster campaign (more of which later), it must be hurting. Chris Williams - well, who is Chris? No website. No posters - although there are some rumours circulating about why. Chris however has one key advantage - no political slime that comes with Josh or Adam. If he can get a message out to the voters that he doesn't have the messy political background of the two "heavy hitters" this may play well with people who are sick of EUSA hacks.
Vice President Academic Affairs comes next. It is still very difficult to split any of these candidates. KT's website is now online, and is looking very smart and sleek. No posters are up as yet, but the website makes up for this - especially a very interesting section showing his comparative perfomance against the other candidates. Anna's site is more bare bones still - flash driven, it'll no doubt annoy a few people, but it does lack in content. Bruce's site is also now online, and is very simple, but very effective. There's a lot of stuff about Bruce and its presented in a simple easy manner (like KT's) which will make a lot of people a lot happier. Ben's site is moving slowly, and now includes the yellow used in the Joshesque Teaser posters.
Vice President Services - well this is where it gets dirty. Tom French seems to be having a go at anyone and everyone on the EUSA forums, and whilst this won't play out on a larger scale, the more people that become interested in the elections the more will find out. His website is up, and it is already causing controversy. There is so much on this that needs discussing, I'm not sure where I should start, so this time round I'm going to simply say that using photos of Tom and current Sabbs almost seems like endorsement from them (especially on the front page), and that using supporting quotes makes it seem like the hard sell. I'm not sure. Stuart on the other hand looks to be winning a softer kind of vote, with his interesting slogan. I've seen some of the forthcoming publicity, which does look interesting and could be a vote winner - how good it is can't be judged yet, and if it really will engage people at all is more difficult to guess. However, Tom & Stuart are ahead of Chris Arnold, who's website isn't up as yet, but is promised by this weekend, along with a manifesto thereafter. However - much like the other Chris - if it is a non-political student people want, then Chris is the choice. However much Tom bleets on about not being a Labour member, the choice is stark between "Green-Labour" (Tom), "Tory-Labour" (Stuart) or something non-Labour, non-party poltical.
Vice President Societies & Activities is probably the most difficult to really work out. Gordon's website is still coming - all we have is all we've seen for nearly two weeks with "Flash Gordon". Will Searle may have stolen a slight lead with a fresh looking, very different website. Although not much is there, it looks a lot cleaner, and I can imagine some content will bring it to life.
Societies Convenor has been returned unopposed, which means Katherine Sellar won't have a tough race like Tom French & Steven Lauder did last year. That means no surprises either.
Finance Committee is a mixture. For the first time in years, there is an election for Senior Member of Finance Committee, and with the previous post holder no longer able to stand, the man who took his place at the Bye Elections will face off against the Sabbatical who is probably disliked the most in recent times. Neil versus Tim Cobbett will be interesting - as I've said before the influence on "Diana" on this election will be a deal breaker. What is really disappointing is that for the Finance Student Members, there are only 5 people standing, compared with 10 last year. There's a distinct lack of Sabbatical candidates taking this as 'fall-back' option and so this will be a tight race.
This being the top of ballot, there's going to be an awful lot of development and it will no doubt happen very quickly.
So President first. Well, whilst I'd like to suggest it would be a three way battle, Adam & Josh do have the front running ground. Josh's teaser campaign might leave it late for him to show who he really is, but I've no idea if there are sufficient hits to his website to make up for this. Adam's website is "still coming" (I was in this position last year, so won't throw too many stones), but it does currently look like an extention of the Mark Ballard factory. It looks tacky, and compared with what has been so far a very poor poster campaign (more of which later), it must be hurting. Chris Williams - well, who is Chris? No website. No posters - although there are some rumours circulating about why. Chris however has one key advantage - no political slime that comes with Josh or Adam. If he can get a message out to the voters that he doesn't have the messy political background of the two "heavy hitters" this may play well with people who are sick of EUSA hacks.
Vice President Academic Affairs comes next. It is still very difficult to split any of these candidates. KT's website is now online, and is looking very smart and sleek. No posters are up as yet, but the website makes up for this - especially a very interesting section showing his comparative perfomance against the other candidates. Anna's site is more bare bones still - flash driven, it'll no doubt annoy a few people, but it does lack in content. Bruce's site is also now online, and is very simple, but very effective. There's a lot of stuff about Bruce and its presented in a simple easy manner (like KT's) which will make a lot of people a lot happier. Ben's site is moving slowly, and now includes the yellow used in the Joshesque Teaser posters.
Vice President Services - well this is where it gets dirty. Tom French seems to be having a go at anyone and everyone on the EUSA forums, and whilst this won't play out on a larger scale, the more people that become interested in the elections the more will find out. His website is up, and it is already causing controversy. There is so much on this that needs discussing, I'm not sure where I should start, so this time round I'm going to simply say that using photos of Tom and current Sabbs almost seems like endorsement from them (especially on the front page), and that using supporting quotes makes it seem like the hard sell. I'm not sure. Stuart on the other hand looks to be winning a softer kind of vote, with his interesting slogan. I've seen some of the forthcoming publicity, which does look interesting and could be a vote winner - how good it is can't be judged yet, and if it really will engage people at all is more difficult to guess. However, Tom & Stuart are ahead of Chris Arnold, who's website isn't up as yet, but is promised by this weekend, along with a manifesto thereafter. However - much like the other Chris - if it is a non-political student people want, then Chris is the choice. However much Tom bleets on about not being a Labour member, the choice is stark between "Green-Labour" (Tom), "Tory-Labour" (Stuart) or something non-Labour, non-party poltical.
Vice President Societies & Activities is probably the most difficult to really work out. Gordon's website is still coming - all we have is all we've seen for nearly two weeks with "Flash Gordon". Will Searle may have stolen a slight lead with a fresh looking, very different website. Although not much is there, it looks a lot cleaner, and I can imagine some content will bring it to life.
Societies Convenor has been returned unopposed, which means Katherine Sellar won't have a tough race like Tom French & Steven Lauder did last year. That means no surprises either.
Finance Committee is a mixture. For the first time in years, there is an election for Senior Member of Finance Committee, and with the previous post holder no longer able to stand, the man who took his place at the Bye Elections will face off against the Sabbatical who is probably disliked the most in recent times. Neil versus Tim Cobbett will be interesting - as I've said before the influence on "Diana" on this election will be a deal breaker. What is really disappointing is that for the Finance Student Members, there are only 5 people standing, compared with 10 last year. There's a distinct lack of Sabbatical candidates taking this as 'fall-back' option and so this will be a tight race.
This being the top of ballot, there's going to be an awful lot of development and it will no doubt happen very quickly.
Saturday, 10 February 2007
A Week is a Long time ... (SRC)
Whilst the Association Exec seems to be ticking along, the SRC jobs also appear to be filling up.
The SRC Exec has a number of candidates (many of the Labour ilk it appears), with some interesting rumours abound. Take SRC Editor - currently two candidates: Guy Bromley and Ross Cullen. The word on the vine (if you listen to certain sources - and remember this Blog is just putting all the information it hears out there) is that Guy was told not to stand for VPAA this year as the field is crowded, and no one would want a Labour Slate ... which is interesting seeing as Bruce Golding is now standing. Listen more closely and you'll hear that Tim Gee is wanting to stand for this position too - firstly because he isn't too fond of Guy, and also because he likes being on Exec. This brings up an interesting debate in how much former Sabbs should be getting involved within the Association - should they be giving their successors more room to breathe?
T&L Convenor is also getting busy: 3 candidates so far, and having spoken to the current incumbent (Emma Chapman), it appears that she will run too. This is sure to be a technical race, as the candidates all appear to be qualified in various ways, and all have different skills. I'd be interested to read the manifestos.
I'd be disappointed if Nick Ward, Thomas Graham and Laura Baker all get an upposed race, as we need real debate. Laura and Thomas are first years, and I'd contest that they may not be the best people for such a job, especially Laura for External. However, I'll wait to pass judgement until I know more.
On the officers, the most interesting is Community Officer. Now, I'm going to be blunt here: what has Joe Calvert done? He appears to have done nothing in the SRC all year, and so I'm going to ask - why is he standing again? I'm not Joe's biggest fan (cards on the table and all), but seriously, why? His opponents could be very able to challenge him, and again mainfestos should make for a competitive election.
I'm also tempted to start a sweep on the number of SRC Ordinary Candidates.
The SRC Exec has a number of candidates (many of the Labour ilk it appears), with some interesting rumours abound. Take SRC Editor - currently two candidates: Guy Bromley and Ross Cullen. The word on the vine (if you listen to certain sources - and remember this Blog is just putting all the information it hears out there) is that Guy was told not to stand for VPAA this year as the field is crowded, and no one would want a Labour Slate ... which is interesting seeing as Bruce Golding is now standing. Listen more closely and you'll hear that Tim Gee is wanting to stand for this position too - firstly because he isn't too fond of Guy, and also because he likes being on Exec. This brings up an interesting debate in how much former Sabbs should be getting involved within the Association - should they be giving their successors more room to breathe?
T&L Convenor is also getting busy: 3 candidates so far, and having spoken to the current incumbent (Emma Chapman), it appears that she will run too. This is sure to be a technical race, as the candidates all appear to be qualified in various ways, and all have different skills. I'd be interested to read the manifestos.
I'd be disappointed if Nick Ward, Thomas Graham and Laura Baker all get an upposed race, as we need real debate. Laura and Thomas are first years, and I'd contest that they may not be the best people for such a job, especially Laura for External. However, I'll wait to pass judgement until I know more.
On the officers, the most interesting is Community Officer. Now, I'm going to be blunt here: what has Joe Calvert done? He appears to have done nothing in the SRC all year, and so I'm going to ask - why is he standing again? I'm not Joe's biggest fan (cards on the table and all), but seriously, why? His opponents could be very able to challenge him, and again mainfestos should make for a competitive election.
I'm also tempted to start a sweep on the number of SRC Ordinary Candidates.
A Week is a Long time ... (Sabbs)
Firstly, apologies for the tardiness of the last two days without so much as a posting.
The political shape of these elections has changed dramatically in the last 48hrs, and now the mud really is starting to fly. A quick look at the EUSA Election website (http://www.eusa.ed.ac.uk/elections) shows that there are over 51 candidtures, but worryingly only from 28 people. There must be a drive to get more students to stand, to make sure that people are involved - whatever their backgrounds are.
Sabbatical wise, the VPAA race is becoming very interesting, with the biggest field for the seat in its existence. Bruce Golding (http://www.brucegolding.net) was the second candidate to declare, and his website is firmly under construction. Known as a member of SRC for a while now, the only other details that I really know about Bruce is that he is a heavily involved Labour Party Member, appearing most recently in a Party Political Broadcast for them. Next up in Ben Politowski (with the aptly titled http://www.poliwhat.com) - I've heard his name before, I believe he is left leaning, but I await his policies with interest. Joining the field most recently, (on Friday) is the much expected candidture of Anna Davidson (http://www.freewebs.com/annadavidson). Anna will - as I no doubt told her last weekend at the Politics Away Weekend - most likely pick up a vote simply by being the old girl in the field and depending on how she plays it could do well a la Sabrina Russo. With KT Chan in this field, this could be the election that interests a lot of people.
Across in the VPSA race, the real interest is by Will Searle. I can't claim to know Will, and without a website as yet, I have nothing to go on. I'm obviously pleased that Gordon Aikman isn't being given a free ride to the position, so an interesting and exciting election could be in prospect.
More to follow no doubt - I really do hope we have some more Sabb candidates.
The political shape of these elections has changed dramatically in the last 48hrs, and now the mud really is starting to fly. A quick look at the EUSA Election website (http://www.eusa.ed.ac.uk/elections) shows that there are over 51 candidtures, but worryingly only from 28 people. There must be a drive to get more students to stand, to make sure that people are involved - whatever their backgrounds are.
Sabbatical wise, the VPAA race is becoming very interesting, with the biggest field for the seat in its existence. Bruce Golding (http://www.brucegolding.net) was the second candidate to declare, and his website is firmly under construction. Known as a member of SRC for a while now, the only other details that I really know about Bruce is that he is a heavily involved Labour Party Member, appearing most recently in a Party Political Broadcast for them. Next up in Ben Politowski (with the aptly titled http://www.poliwhat.com) - I've heard his name before, I believe he is left leaning, but I await his policies with interest. Joining the field most recently, (on Friday) is the much expected candidture of Anna Davidson (http://www.freewebs.com/annadavidson). Anna will - as I no doubt told her last weekend at the Politics Away Weekend - most likely pick up a vote simply by being the old girl in the field and depending on how she plays it could do well a la Sabrina Russo. With KT Chan in this field, this could be the election that interests a lot of people.
Across in the VPSA race, the real interest is by Will Searle. I can't claim to know Will, and without a website as yet, I have nothing to go on. I'm obviously pleased that Gordon Aikman isn't being given a free ride to the position, so an interesting and exciting election could be in prospect.
More to follow no doubt - I really do hope we have some more Sabb candidates.
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