Firstly, for question two, having been involved in the Union last year it surprised me on how long it takes good working relationships to become established. I feel having worked with senior university staff it will be a simple case of refreshing these relationships rather than building them from scratch, which would be instrumental for getting the Union in a position to hit the ground running for when September comes and the students return.

Question three, I was trying to convey the skills that I have that would be ideal for this job, and therefore the reasons why I decided to run. I decided to run after speaking with students who didn’t know what the Union was and what it could do for them. In my eyes students are the union. It is the students who should be telling the officers in what direction they want their union to go and not the other way round. This is why I wanted to run for President.

As to question four, this should be the priority of the team next year to let all students know how they can implement change within the union and the best way to communicate with them, whether it was face to face, or via emails or facebook. This can be done but initially making all the officers visible would be the best way to start.

When talking about PR, It isn’t a case of spinning what the Union does, from a PR point of view. It’s about promoting , representing and communicating every aspect of what the Union does with students. How do I plan on putting the Union back in touch with students? It’s about fighting for the things that students want. Our University has some of the best facilities around the UK, however they remain out of touch with the student lifestyle and often remain unused to their full benefit to the student body.



This year the Union has fallen out of touch because the students don’t relate to the officers elected. The President leads by example, surely its a case of if your President won’t be seen to be doing something, or having an active interest within their Union – how can you expect students?


As for Politics, the Union is facing massive issues with regards to communication and representation – a weak reputation and image. A union should be exciting, engaging and constantly raising the bar for students and increasing their experience at University to the best it could possibly be. These are all PR issues, not Politics. Daniel H is a great guy, however his Political tactics this year didn’t work because issues around the lack of clear communication and representation weren’t resolved at the start and objectives weren’t achieved.
The role of president is not, as a lot of people assume, a mainly political role. Yes politics is an advantage. But when it comes down to it the role of SU president has many aspects of that require man management skills, team leadership, problem solving, and ability to think outside of the box, as well as PR.

I can’t tell you how I’m going to achieve the things within my manifesto until the new team is elected and the issues with communication and a poor union image are resolved – that’s why I didn’t mention them in my interview. It would be pointless fighting for something with no student engagement because they don’t know what’s going on or to get involved.

Experience is crucial to filling this role, which I have gained during my three years at University. Working on summer placements at high profile brands I’ve developed experience in management, leadership, problem solving, etc along with working at Bullet. My abilities regarding to an understanding of University politics, I don’t feel the need for a full grasp of international politics, just a National understanding here at home is all that is required, and a determination to finally find out what students want us to do.

I think you raise some good points and I look forward to hearing what the candidates have to say – so I really hope they all take the time out to respond!

Regards to you feeling that my comment sounds like a personal attack – it isn’t that, I am a third year and will be moving on this year and if I wasn’t I would be quite happy with any other of the three at all. Yes, they all sound a bit homogonous but that is because they have all identified the same problem so they do say the same thing.

But I have taken the time out to study their manifestos, these post, and speak to them all and James worries me. I’m sorry but he does!! He is the one candidate that I would not want to win, I’m sorry but that is how I feel, and all I can do is go by this. There is three strong candidates and I really wish them luck, but all I have seen in James is worrying.

Also regards to your comment ref the other exec members going to other campuses. I don’t know about Hull but I do know that they have regularly come to Riseholme, I personally saw Kayleigh and Chris there just three weeks ago. Whether they come up regularly enough is another issue that does need addressing though.

Question two:

Chris: Surely a PR background means you can put spin on things. Wouldn’t a Politics course be better suited to running a major part of a university student’s life?

Tom: That’s a great answer. Puts confidence in you, and I think that if we were given a bit more information, that would be a viable start to office.

James: Media’s definitely important as far as communication is concerned, but isn’t that similar to the PR situation with Chris?

Question three:

Chris: Good answer, but still just talking about having a chat with students. Still not sure where the policies are coming from, exactly. However, you’re damn right we’ve paid for a great deal from the university and union alike, and it’d be nice to see them get more involved with the student experience.

Tom: You’re the right candidate for the job? No explanation whatsoever – makes me doubt that, to be honest. You’ve been asked what made you run for the presidency, not why you should win.

James: Experience = something we probably need at the moment. I don’t know how many share my views, but I really don’t have much confidence in the union as it is – it seems to be people just looking for glory rather than actually looking to change it. Hoping whomever is voted in is the former, and I guess experience wouldn’t hurt.

Question Four:

Chris: That’s pretty much a dictionary definition of what a student union and the president thereof are supposed to do. I’m glad you see that the union is a long long way from this, but I’m unsure (still) what you’re planning to do to bring it back.

Tom: Definitely – spot on. You’ve got the idea, but again, it’s all about implementation.

James: Agreed again. Not sure who’s the strongest candidate to be fair (and I guess putting things like that up here will make the boards opinionated), but as with Tom and Chris, you know exactly where this union should be. I like the idea of getting students increasingly involved in the union, rather than being “the voice of the students for them”, as the other two seem to want to be.

I always thought that a president of society, country or union should take on board the grievances of their members and want to change accordingly or provide suitable and good reasons for why the people’s wishes are not possible. At present, much of the candidacy is determined to become the voice for students across all of Lincoln, instead of listening to them. It’s a shame, really – James’s last point gets closest to listening, but we still need to make sure that the voted in candidate will listen properly.

As for the other candidates – if they cannot be bothered to provide an interview or a decent reason why they can’t answer the questions, I wouldn’t give them the time of day for a vote. That’s another key thing for a president – talking to the people you’re looking to win over, no?

@Rachel: I think he means the students from the other campuses – the spotlight’s hardly fixed on them (let alone us at brayford campus!) a lot of the time, and I guess they have more right to feel left out than us. Rumour has it that Vicky (the current Welfare Officer) is the only one who’s ever been up to Riseholme & Hull.

Also… Did you read any of the others? Kinda looks like an attack on James, as it stands…

I’m sorry, but for someone that claims to have an understanding of the University because he is already working with the Exec how come this has only just ‘realised’ that students feel this way. This is major common knowledge – come on!

Completely says everything if someone can’t be bothered to take the time and answer a few short questions.