"The least aggressive elections period our student union has had"

Ed Marsh, Chief Executive for Middlesex University’s Students’ Union, stated during his opening speech of the Elections Results Night 2019 that he was “proud” of the conduct of the candidates in this year’s union elections. He stated that it was the “least aggressive elections period our student union has had”.

His statement seemed to reflect on previous elections, specifically the 2017 elections, when three candidates for the full-time positions were disqualified from running mid-way through the elections.

Middlesex University’s Students’ Union have stated that in 2017 they “received a number of complains which were all investigated in line with our elections complaints procedure” and that, following this, three candidates were “removed”.

Although the students’ union cannot comment on the individual complaints, students who were close to the election told us that the disqualified candidates were caught breaking rules such as campaigning in student accommodation, destroying the promotional material for their competitors and hassling students to post videos on social media to promote their campaign.

Ed Marsh’s statement at the awards night was despite accusations from several students of some campaign teams for the 2019 elections bending the rules.

Regarding these allegations, Middlesex University’s Students’ Union have stated that they take “any potential breaches in the elections rules very seriously, and investigations are carried out quickly to ensure minimal disruption.”

these campaign teams were also acting in a threatening and intimidating way...

Specifically, in response to the rumours surrounding the 2019 elections, they have explained that four complaints were received, which were all investigated by the Deputy Returning Officer (an external university staff member) and “no further action was taken.” There were no further appeals and the Returning Officer was “satisfied that the election was conducted in a free and fair way”, as explained in their report.

Derek Lamb, 21, a candidate for Vice President of Business and Law, explained that there were several teams campaigning in plain clothes. “It makes it easier for people to bend the rules when you can’t identify them as easily,” he said. Candidates are given a set of coloured t-shirts during their candidate briefing for themselves and their team to wear when they are campaigning. This is not only to show what team you are campaigning for, but also allows students to identify you if you happen to be breaking any rules.

According to Reygan Davidson, 21, a candidate for the President position, these campaign teams were also acting in a threatening and intimidating way towards any of their competitors. She stated that her campaign team would call her asking for support when they were out on campus because “they didn’t want to do it alone”.

The candidates in question were contacted for a right to reply, but no response was received.

You can find further coverage of this story is in our Commentary section, found on Page 8.