What are the Executive Elections?

The Executive Elections are where you get to choose who you want to represent your community in the next academic year through voting on the Students’ Union website.

This includes voting to elect the three Executive and twelve Part-Time Officers. These officers are elected to represent students and lobby the university to make impactful change, so they can have a significant influence over your student experience!

There are many benefits to standing and being an elected officer. Each person running in the elections will have different priorities and aims, so if you would like to see a particular change happen, make sure that you check each candidate's manifesto.                                                                                                  

 

What roles can you stand for?

There are 15 paid positions for this election, which can be found below. Part-Time Officers are part-time, paid roles where you can work up to 7 hours a week for up to 35 weeks on projects and campaigns.

Executive Officers are full-time, paid roles with a salary of £24,450. You would work 37 hours a week from June 2025 to June 2026 to represent the Students' Union.

You can stand for any one role (you are unable to stand for multiple roles), provided that you meet the eligibility criteria:

• Part-time Officer candidates must:
  • Apply using the correct application form and answer the shortlisting questions
  • Self-identify as part of the community that you would like to represent (e.g. International Officer must be a international student)- make sure you tick the self-identification boxes as you apply on the Elections webpage.
  • Be shortlisted by a panel in order to run in the elections.
• Executive Officer candidates must:
  • Fulfill the requirements to be a trustee outlined in the Trustee Declaration Form
  • Have been a registered student for at least three months at the close of nomination
  • Self-declare that you do not have any unspent convictions
  • Have not been found guilty of the University or Students' Union complaints and disciplinary procedures in the past 12 months.

Executive Officer candidates must be willing to pause your studies for one academic year (June 2025- June 2026) or be a graduate by the time you would start the role. You can apply for these roles in any year of your studies as long as you intercalate your studies or are due to graduate this summer. If you have queries about how this may work, get in touch with the Elections Team.

Part-Time Officers can be from any academic year and can include Distance Learning students and part-time students.

The available roles are:

Executive Officers

• President
• Education Officer
• Communities Officer.

Part-Time Officers

• Arts Officer
• Accessibility Officer
• Distance Learning Officer
• Ethnic Equity Officer
• International Officer
• LGBT+ Officer
• PGR Officer
• Societies Officer
• Sports Officer
• Sustainability Officer
• Trans and Non-Binary Officer
• Women's Officer.

Where can I find out more about the role?

You can find more information about all Executive and Part-Time Officer roles on this webpage. You will receive a role description at the rules session where you can find out exactly what is expected within your role. All officers will receive a full induction if elected. You can learn more about who you will be working with at the team drop-in sessions mentioned above.

 

What are the benefits of being an elected officer?

You can find the benefits of being an elected officer here.

 

Could you give more information on the entire process of standing in the election?

To stand in the elections, all you need to do is nominate yourself on the election’s portal during the nomination/application window which generall opens in January each year.

It only takes a few minutes to nominate yourself for an Executive Officer role and you can edit your nomination until the voting period opens. You can add a photo of yourself and a 200-word manifesto to explain why people should vote for you and what you would like to achieve.

If you want to stand for a Part-Time Officer role, you need to self-identify within that group, if applicable, e.g., if you want to stand as LGBT+ Officer you need to self-identify as part of the LGBT+ community. The process to nominate yourself will also be slightly different to Executive Officers: to apply for a Part-Time Officer role, you will initially apply for the role by filling out an application form.  You will be asked some questions about your passion and understanding of the role, which will be used to shortlist up to six candidates per role. This process ensures that Part-Time Officer candidates meet the standard requirements to stand, and it makes it much easier for students to pick their preferred candidate.

The elections themselves consist of a period where candidates prepare their material and campaign and attend mandatory training and optional training, then there is a week where they get out the vote and encourage students to vote for them. This may include attending Hustings, attending Marketing Days organised by the Students’ Union, and attending the Results Event to find out the results.

All candidates will be guided throughout the elections by the Elections Team. They will send regular emails and updates, and each candidate will be allocated a staff buddy if they have additional questions. .

 

How long is the campaigning period and what is the spending limit?

The campaign period begins typically lasts a week with candidates been given a spending limit, this was £60 for Full-Time Officer candidates and £30 for Part-Time Officer candidates last year.  Please note this is subject to change depending on the number of candidates who put themselves forward.

 

Can I apply to be an officer if I applied last year?

If you have already been elected as an officer, you can decide to run again if you wish. However, you can only be an elected officer for two academic years.

If you are a current Part-time Officer, the two-year limit would start from next academic year.

 

What are the elections like?

The elections span across February and March, with the majority of work involving building your campaign and campaigning to get votes during voting week.

Voting week is a very busy time for candidates, as they will spend hours on campus talking to students and leafletting to get votes. There are plenty of opportunities to have breaks with the Liberation Room being open during the campaigning period for students who want to rest. The elections team will be available during working hours to help with concerns, and we will give you lunch vouchers during voting week.

The elections period can be stressful for candidates, which is why we encourage candidates to get in touch with the relevant support services at the university or their staff buddy if they need to talk to someone about general queries. The elections team will regularly be in touch to let candidates know what is expected for each day, and will be able to answer questions.

 

How long does the role run for?

The handover period begins in June for Executive Time Officers, with the officers fully starting from July, working 34.5 hours per week. For Part-Time Officers, they will be trained in June/July and start in September. The roles last until the following June and so will last one year in total. Part-Time Officers will work for up to 35 weeks for 7 hours a week during term time.

Do we need any sort of prior experience to run?

Any student can stand in the elections if they are passionate to make change! If you have previous work experience, that can be beneficial, but it is not a requirement. We expect you to have an understanding of the role you are running for and have engaged with the training opportunities, but you will be upskilled during the role, and will have a handover period with the previous officers as well as plenty of learning opportunities during the role. If elected, you will have staff support too, so you will not be left to learn on your own!

Here are some skills that might be helpful during your time as an officer:

• Project management
• Organisation skills
• Excellent communication skills (public speaking, emailing, talking to staff and students)
• Able to meet deadlines
• Proactive
• Creative
• Negotiation
• Event planning
• Persuasion.

 

What would my working hours be?

Executive Officers work 7 hours a day (9-4:30pm usually), but this can be flexible. Most work is conducted in person in the Students’ Union Office, but there are opportunities to work from home. The full details about working and the salary at the Students’ Union will be explained once you are elected.

Part-Time Officer working hours can vary significantly. We expect Part-Time Officers to work 7 hours per week, but this can be more flexible during deadlines and exam season. With this being a part-time role, you decide on your working hours, but what you put into the role, you tend to get out. We expect Part-Time Officers to come to the Students’ Union office to do their work. You will be given a hot-desk that will be shared with the Part-Time Officer and College Rep team.

 

How do I set up a campaign?

To set up your campaign, you will need to create your own manifesto, which is a poster telling people why they should vote for you. You can learn more about how to create your campaign and manifesto in the mandatory training and campaigning training sessions.