All 53 sabbatical candidates were invited to speak to UCL's student media about their campaign at a Union-organised press event.
Seven of the 11 candidates running for Union President were in attendance. The Cheese Grater took this opportunity to get a better understanding of their priorities and their vision for the Students' Union.
In the interest of balance, we also wrote to other candidates and asked the same questions that we asked the seven candidates who turned up to the media day.
We received a response from one of the four remaining candidates, with Mingda Xie responding over email.
Oskar Barltrop - UCL isn’t working
Sustainability Officer Oskar Barltrop, wants a Union that prioritises “Jobs, Affordability, Ethics & Sustainability”. His landmark policy is to provide more jobs for students within the SU, which he describes as a solution to the growing apathy crisis and the lack of students in decision making spaces.
“I think rather than hiring more permanent full-time staff, it [the Union] could hire more students instead”. When asked whether Barltrop would support sacking full time staff to bring in more students, he insisted he plans to change how they hire moving forward, rather than overhauling the entire structure.
Barltrop has also called for a freeze on food and accommodation prices. When asked why he wouldn’t cut prices he said, “I would love to lower prices, reality is I don’t think that’s feasible, having tried to do it this year already”.
On student engagement, Barltrop said “it’s really important that Sabbs are on the ground and actually face to face with students, engaged with students.” He cites the introduction of food provisions at zone meetings this year, something he had championed, as attracting higher attendance to meetings.
In line with the work he has already done on sustainability, Barltrop is also pledging to stop the Union banking with Barclays and to lobby UCL to commit to more ethical partnerships.
Christian Chambers - Baby, I got your money
Societies’ Rep and President of RaiseUCL Christian Chambers wants to tackle student poverty and sexual violence. His landmark policy is launching a food bank on campus, promising to donate £2,500 of his £34k salary if he wins.
When asked whether this foodbank would be means-tested, he said “I think there will always be people that try and game the system… the one thing I really don’t want to risk doing is to exclude anybody that genuinely needs help.”
As part of his plans to tackle sexual violence, Chambers wants to launch the ‘UCL against Sexual Violence campaign’, proposing that the Union “asks students what they need, what sort of resources they would like”. He also wants to introduce an ‘emergency Uber fund’ for vulnerable students at the Union Bars and Scala.
Chambers wants to solve the student engagement crisis by encouraging societies to promote elections further, recognising “most people engaged in student politics are engaged at a society level as opposed to Union wide.”
His other plans include revitalising Union bars with lower prices and sports screenings, and creating a "University-wide ball".
Ted Mikhailov - Swiftsoc puppet
Ted Mikhailov wants to see a Union better engaged with the student body with the President as a public figure, active on campus and in attendance at ALL TAYLOR SWIFT (and many other) events.
He advocates 60 second video updates on Union activities which would see better engagement than the emails which he thinks are widely ignored.
Mikhailov thinks that the resources the Union provides are extensive and impressive but not sufficiently advertised - stressing that students aren’t aware of the free mental health services they’re entitled to which form another key part of his manifesto.
His other policies include a monthly meal allowance for students to use at UCL cafés (initially means tested but hopefully to be rolled out to anyone who opts in), more snacks on sale in Union bars which he thinks are in need of a revamp, and for the Union to come out in support of causes which are important to a majority of students.
Specifically, Mikhailov believes the Union needs to come out in support of Palestine to better represent student beliefs.
Alisdair Wilson - Mr magic money tree
Alisdair Wilson wants a Union which supports its students, specifically with rent payments.
Wilson believes it is "the Union’s responsibility to make sure that students can afford to live in London during a cost of living crisis" - he advertises up to £2,040 of support annually for all students which would come out of the budget surplus.
Not only does Wilson believe his policies are entirely realistic with UCL’s budget surplus usually ranging between £100-500m, he claims other candidates have pledged affordability without having any tangible plans for implementing it.
While Wilson seems very well read on his flagship policy, this breadth of knowledge doesn’t stretch across his campaign. He stands for causes like mental health support but readily admits he doesn’t entirely know what the Union is already offering is.
Likewise, he wants to lobby UCL to cut ties with partners that don’t fit within their ethical rules, mentioning a deeply controversial event with an IDF soldier speaking as a failure on behalf of the University and Union.
However, when pushed he admits he doesn’t know which UCL partners he takes an issue with specifically or what the guidelines currently are.
Mia Ramage - Strong and stable
Mia Ramage wants a Union which translates student wants into real policy.
The central element of her campaign is pragmatic and achievable policies, even if they don’t seem very ambitious. She advocates accommodation and food price freezes calling manifestos which call for cuts "unrealistic".
Ramage also supports a ‘Too Good To Go’ style system for food sold in cafes and shops on campus.
Ramage works as a Phineas bartender and within student media and believes these experiences help her to understand the Union and its limitations.
She claims she’s used her media role to criticise Union position on student activism and would continue to be critical where appropriate in the presidential role describing herself as "supportive of the Union but also of the students".
For Ramage it’s important to be fair: to take student concerns seriously, especially when it’s a widespread concern.
Ramage also wants to ensure students know that issues that matter to them are actioned within the Union, such as divesting from arms companies and using ethical banks.
She adds she would support both policies in principle but would need to conduct more research once in the role.
Harshita Pandey - Reach for the (ambiguous) stars
Harshita Pandey wants to expand financial support, make UCL more sustainable, help ease cost of living, and strengthen global and local partnerships.
Pandey believes that "nothing is impossible" and claims she’s spent time making sure her proposals are credible but notes that not all of her work will be finished in her term.
She advocates more inter-society collaborations, trying to bring diverse crowds together and encouraging students to explore beyond the few societies they may be involved with.
Pandey consistently emphasises community and connection not just within UCL, but on a global level: she signposts work she’s already done as faculty rep rolling out a program in collaboration with the United Nations Institute for Research and Training in Geneva.
While Pandey has ambitious goals, she makes very few material commitments in her manifesto, preferring to use that space to advertise her broad priorities.
She says she only plans to get more specific after her election but does suggest she’ll be making efforts to improve meal deal offerings.
Sree Cavuturi - DOGE the Union
Sree Cavuturi wants to bring down Union bureaucracy and make it genuinely accessible to students primarily by fixing the Report and Support loopholes, bringing in an independent review body to make sure that student complaints are taken seriously and to "bring agency back to the students".
According to Cavuturi, if a student wishes to make a complaint about reimbursements, harassment, or other concerns, there is currently no real independent body through which to do this, meaning the Union is failing in its "duty of care" towards students.
She thinks that the role of the Union is to "protect the rights of students" and better engage them with UCL.
Other policies include helping students in need to access food bank vouchers through the Union for local food banks.
She also opposes banking with Barclays and wants to bring the investment in fossil fuel companies cap down to 5% or lower with aims to involve students in these campaigns and decisions.
Cavuturi has significant experience within the Union having been Societies Rep & Officer as well as student trustee over the past three years — she’s confident she can deliver on her policies.
Cavuturi wants to hold more events to engage with students such as "cafes for change"; she sees the presidential role as being very public facing.
Mingda Xie - ChatGPT warrior (allegedly)
Academic Board member Mingda Xie is pledging transparency, calling for a full audit on Union bars and cafés, and pledging to call-out departments that fail to publish feedback in under 20 days.
Xie is also calling for arranging assessment deadlines around periods of religious observance such as Jummah and Ramadan. He also wants to improve the Union’s "multilingual outreach" saying “communities have been left out”.
When The Cheese Grater looked through Xie’s website we observed a suspicious amount of em-dashes, similarly his response to us via email contained eight. We’ll let you come to your own conclusions.
Owen Luo - Make UCL Great Again?
Owen Luo, despite citing his extensive experience in high school, does not provide any clear cut policies. He fills that gap with Trumpian rhetoric such as “I’m tough, decisive, honest—no games, no excuses.”
Luo says he “will stand firm on his principles” but The Cheese Grater unfortunately struggled to identify what these principles actually are, beyond a call for setting appeal deadlines and ensuring voices are heard.
But fear not — he organised a campus run in junior high!
Seif Abdelmotaleb - Silly fresher
First-year Civil Engineering rep Seif Abdelmotaleb, wants to provide community cohesion as president, calling for “cross‑faculty events that bring together students”.
He also advocates for improving visibility and usage of academic, financial, and wellbeing support. His background as a senior committee member in high school has geared him with an “approach focused on delivery, accountability, and meaningful student engagement.”
Alissada Chanaisawan - On the CV grind
Alissada Chanaisawan wants to prioritise jobs, promising to “expand access to internships, entrepreneurship and industry connections”, claiming it will help turn students’ ideas into real opportunities — whatever that means.
Chanaisawan claims they are a strong communicator who will bring "energy and accountability" to the Union, saying student feedback will genuinely influence Union decision making under her leadership.