Elections – The Orbital

Students’ Union Leadership Election Results 2026

22Mar

By Ruby SharkieNo Comments

News

Students’ Union Leadership Election Results 2026

On Thursday night, the Students' Union (SU) hosted its Leadership Election Results Night, announcing all the winners of the 2026 Leadership Election and The Orbital’s News editors (along with others) were present to report on it. When News Editors, Ruby and Maddy arrived at the SU venue, the event space had been transformed into an exciting venue with a buzzing atmosphere of anticipation and celebration. With the help of complimentary drinks and professional photography, the guests filed in and soon the room was filled with the chatter of contestants and their parties. The ceremony was hosted by the current President (Olivia Davies), VP Wellbeing and Diversity (Vaishnavi Vajja) and VP Societies and Sport (David Gallardo González) - VP Education, Matthew Paterson...

Student Union Elections: Communication, Collaboration, and Joyful Surprise!

29Mar

By Madelaine GrayNo Comments

Elections, Features, News

Student Union Elections: Communication, Collaboration, and Joyful Surprise!

On Wednesday the Sixteenth of March, Orbital Magazine attended the SU Election results night to interview some of the lucky elected officers, including NUS Delegates, School Reps, and the 2022/23 Sabbatical Officer team. NUS Delegates – Maia Jarvis, Ananya Krishna Madelaine: Well, congrats to both of you! First off, I’d like to ask what your main priority is going into the NUS conference? Maia: So, I actually submitted a proposal to the NUS National Conference, which is about making education more accessible. So, making sure there’s flexible online learning. I’ll be pushing that agenda and making sure that’s on the national stage for education, because I want to make sure Holloway student concerns are on the national stage. Madelaine: What about you, Ananya? Ananya: I t...

6Mar

By Madeline BreedNo Comments

Elections

SU President

In a joint venture with Insanity Radio, we have interviewed Presidential candidate Jack O'Neill – presidential candidate Rubuiya Y. Zannat declined to be interviewed – and created a podcast with questions that delve deeper into their individual manifesto points. Our ongoing Sabbatical Officer coverage and involvement with the elections has been exceptional this year, with the media outlets chairing Candidate Question Time, and we will continue with this by interviewing all winning candidates on elections night so keep an eye out for our coverage. Here are our brief summaries of each candidate and their manifestos: Jack O'Neill Jack O'Neill has been VP Education this year and is aiming to follow in predecessor Clem Jones' footsteps by running for the role of President this year. He ha...

5Mar

By Madeline BreedNo Comments

Elections

VP Societies and Media

In a joint venture with Insanity Radio, we have interviewed all the candidates for VP Societies and Media and created a podcast with questions that delve deeper into their individual manifesto points. Our ongoing Sabbatical Officer coverage and involvement with the elections has been exceptional this year, with the media outlets chairing Candidate Question Time, and we will continue with this by interviewing all winning candidates on elections night so keep an eye out for our coverage. Here are our brief summaries of each candidate and their manifestos: Marta Barton-Navarro - 0:00.30-0:11.30 Marta is promising to meet with media managers monthly, improve communication between the SU and student groups, and engage more societies in Varsity. All of these issues have been key to every c...

4Mar

By Madeline BreedNo Comments

Elections

VP Education

In a joint venture with Insanity Radio, we have interviewed all the candidates for VP Education and created a podcast with questions that delve deeper into their individual manifesto points. Our ongoing Sabbatical Officer coverage and involvement with the elections has been exceptional this year, with the media outlets chairing Candidate Question Time, and we will continue with this by interviewing all winning candidates on elections night so keep an eye out for our coverage. Here are our brief summaries of each candidate and their manifestos: George White - 0:00.30-0:10.30 George White is aiming to increase study spaces across campus, oversee a smooth transition when it comes to the academic restructure on campus, eliminate paper hand-ins and provide further engagement with academic...

4Mar

By Madeline BreedNo Comments

Elections

VP Sport & Development

In a joint venture with Insanity Radio, we have interviewed all the candidates for VP Sport & Development and created a podcast with questions that delve deeper into their individual manifesto points. Our ongoing Sabbatical Officer coverage and involvement with the elections has been exceptional this year, with the media outlets chairing Candidate Question Time, and we will continue with this by interviewing all winning candidates on elections night so keep an eye out for our coverage. Here are our brief summaries of each candidate and their manifestos: Joshua Bibby Josh explained that his campaign focuses on cross-club collaboration, better communication between clubs and the SU, better reporting of fixtures by student media outlets and transparency in decisions for Colours Ball...

4Mar

By Madeline BreedNo Comments

Elections

VP Welfare & Diversity

In a joint venture with Insanity Radio, we have interviewed all the candidates for VP Welfare & Diversity and created a podcast with questions that delve deeper into their individual manifesto points. Our ongoing Sabbatical Officer coverage and involvement with the elections has been exceptional this year, with the media outlets chairing Candidate Question Time, and we will continue with this by interviewing all winning candidates on elections night so keep an eye out for our coverage. Here are our brief summaries of each candidate and their manifestos: Sophie Bury - 0:00.30-0:12.30 Sophie Bury is standing on a platform of ensuring that lecture capture is instituted across departments, a review of the sexual health care provided to students (or lack thereof), prioritising student...

29Jul

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Opinion

Voting: Restrictions Apply

The introduction of a scheme to force all voters to show a form of ID at polling elections during the May local elections is unneccesary and exclusionary. This scheme was introduced earlier this year and is being trailled in Watford, Bromley, Gosport and Woking before planning to make the scheme country-wide. While forcing voters to have ID seems like a good idea in principle, it doesn’t work when applied to real people who will be significantly adversely affected by it. Voting ID restrictions are meant to maintain the integrity of the ballot box, as many politicians all over the world have said, and at first glance it does do exactly that. After all, who doesn’t have a form of ID? In this ever-changing modern world, it is expected that every person has a passport, a driving license or at...

6May

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Opinion

SU Elections: Candidates take note

I want to talk about election canvassing. More specifically, Student Union Election canvassing. This year has been my first experience of university elections and I'm so glad that the democratic system of this country has transferred to university. However, the ways in which the candidates tried to gain support leave much to be desired. They were invasive and, at times, slightly juvenile. For a start, I do not want to be stopped on my way to a lecture, sometimes running late, to be told to 'Vote Brian'. I'm not that receptive to the finer details of policy when I'm fresh out of an hour long lecture on Fascism in Modern Europe. And please, don't stand outside my halls with free tea - it's lovely but I'm caffeine-free so you're just in the way. And another thing. Please stop aiming you...

6May

By No Comments

Opinion

A Society Election POV

“Can we have all the candidates for secretary please?” [ITALICS] Is that me? Am I running for secretary or treasurer? Maybe a quick look around to check if anyone else is running…okay, looks like one other person is running so I’d better get up there. Wait…hold the bus! There’s dozens of candidates! Oh, no, they’re just letting someone out. Phew! And it looks like I’m going first. Great. Now let’s just grab my notes…oh, no! Where is my Post-It note?! I swear it was in my pocket! *Breathe sigh of relief* It’s here. I could have sworn that I wrote more. Never mind, everyone’s waiting. Trip up onto the stage equals fabulous start. Why does it have to be so silent when people do speeches? There’s not even annoying elevator music. Right, establish eye contact. With twenty people. Easier said...