Almost 50 candidates are competing for the six paid sabbatical officer positions at this year’s Students’ Union Leadership Race – the highest number in recent years.
Next week, UCL students will elect six sabbatical officers who collectively represent the political leadership of the Union. They are paid £33,000 a year to improve student life at UCL.
Students will also be electing 15 part-time student officer roles, as well as thousands of committee members to over 400 clubs and societies.
This year, eight candidates are in the running for the role of Students’ Union President, with the notable absence of incumbent President Goksu Danaci, who is not seeking a re-election.
The race for Education Officer is the most competitive in years, with 15 candidates competing to replace the incumbent two-term sabb Shaban Chaudhary, who has reached his term limit.
Another highly competitive race is Welfare and Community, with 11 candidates in the running including incumbent officer Rachel Lim. This will be another key race to watch as Lim faces an uphill battle to secure a second term.
Surprisingly, only three candidates are running for Activities and Engagement Officer despite it being the most competitive race in previous years. This will undoubtedly be good news for incumbent officer Ana Boikova who is running for re-election.
Equity and Inclusion Officer Eda Yildirimkaya is running for re-election but faces a fierce challenge from Trans Officer Amanda Ng alongside two other hopefuls.
Also seeking re-election is Postgraduate Officer Darcy Lan, who faces a surprise challenger in outspoken Student Trustee Seth Harris, who had double-bluffed the current sabbatical leadership by telling them he was going to run for Education Officer.
Despite a record 3,814 number of candidates across all Union and society elections, four student officer positions remain uncontested, with just one candidate running for Accommodation and Housing Officer, Mature Students’ Officer, Disability Officer, and the Research Students’ Officer – not including RON (re-open nominations).
Campaigning will begin from tomorrow (Thursday) morning, so be prepared for a barrage of campaigners armed with QR codes asking you to vote for their candidate.
A week-long voting period will take place from next Monday 17, with the winners being announced on Friday 21. You can find the full list of candidates here.
