MANIFESTO GUIDE – HOW TO WRITE AN IMPACTFUL MANIFESTO So, you’re thinking of running for election? Great! One of the most important things you’ll need right away is a manifesto; this tells voters what you’re going to do for them if elected. We want to take you through the four steps of writing an impactful manifesto and help get your message over effectively to the student population. STEP 1 – GATHERING IDEAS First thing first, you need to ask yourself two very simple questions – ‘Why am I standing?’, and ‘What do I want to achieve?’. These two will form the starting point of your manifesto. Your manifesto should then be broken down in to three sections; (roughly) 100 words about why you’d be good for the job, 100 words about why you’re standing, and 100 words about what you want to achieve! Once you have done this, it’s time to start brainstorming ideas and do a bit of research. You might want to consider...
›› The Students’ Union’s strategic plan ›› Checking out the policies coming out of ‘Your Big Ideas’ ›› What matters to you, your friends and other students ›› Looking at the specific role descriptions STEP 2 – BOILING DOWN YOUR IDEAS At this point, you should have loads of ideas about what you want to put in to your manifesto. It’s time to start the cull; some of your ideas, whilst brilliant, might not be realistic. For example, building a giant slide through Student Central will (probably) never happen. Remember; you only have 100 words per section so use your words wisely! Tip – When writing the section on what you would like to achieve, we advise breaking down your ideas to 3-5 bullet points, each no more than 20 words. It’s both easier for you to explain and for voters to understand.
HUDDERSFIELD SU ELECTIONS OCTOBER 2016