More candidates than ever

Record numbers of students have applied to run the Union, Leeds Student can reveal.

Figures seen exclusively by this paper show that 60 people want to run in ‘The Leadership Race’, which is a campus wide vote to elect six students under the premise of managing one of the largest student unions in the country.

Of the six ‘Student Executive’ positions available, Welfare Officer was the most popular this year with a staggering 13 candidates applying, more than three times the number that ran last year. The role involves campaigning for more awareness of mental health issues.

The least popular, however, was Communications and Internal Affairs Officer, who has similar responsibilities to a more traditional ‘President’ of a Student Union, with only six students fancying the job. A full breakdown of candidate numbers can be found below.

Rumours were rife in the past week that several members of the current executive were considering running for a second term. and it has now been confirmed that Mark Sewards (Communication and Internal Affairs Officer), Ben Fisher (Community Officer) and Charlie Hopper (Equality and Diversity Officer) will be doing just that (click here for more details).

As always Leeds Student will be first with every twist and turn throughout this year’s campaign, so keep up to date with us on Twitter and Facebook.