Christ Church Students’ Union elects full-time officers
Christ Church Students Union (CCSU) held the results night for their 2016 full-time and part-time officer elections on Friday 11 March.
A record 2,152 students voted in the election; however, an overwhelming bulk of voters were based in Canterbury, with only 63 votes being made at other campuses such as Medway and Broadstairs, and only 20 votes being made from overseas.
The election was also characterised by a re-emergence of an ongoing dispute between societies and sports teams.
These problems, ultimately, were overshadowed on the night by a number of surprise results.
The first was in the result of the election for the President (Education & Wellbeing), where newcomer Phillip Semmens unseated incumbent officer Nicola Ward by 76 votes. Semmens’ main manifesto pledge was to extend the 24-hour library openings to cover high-traffic periods, such as exam season and during periods where there are a high number of coursework deadlines.
The next result to be announced that night was that of Union President. David Hannaway was announced to be the next leader of CCSU, with 695 votes, over 300 more than his nearest competitor. Hannaway had run a campaign on the promise of phasing out paper submissions of essays, moving instead to an entirely online system.
The biggest surprise of the night was the announcement of the winner of the President (Activities) election. The frontrunner for the role, Joseph Christmas Rook, who had led a widely-publicised and charismatic campaign, was pipped to the post by Nicholas Beard.
Beard, who ran on a manifesto promising to improve student media outlets CCTV and Unified magazine, won the contest in the first round, securing 130 votes over the required 800-vote quota, and was audibly shaken by the result when speaking to CSRfm.
Following that came the final announcement of the night, the results of the President (Sports) contest. Biba Chuta came out victorious, winning in the second round of voting with a 200-vote lead over her nearest competitor.
Speaking to CSRfm, Biba emphasised the importance of her manifesto pledge for a universal CCCU sports uniform and ensuring transport for sports teams. She also committed herself to helping bridge the divide between societies and sports.
Preceding the full-time officer elections were the elections for part-time Union Council positions. Incumbent Union President, Krum Tashev, was announced as the new International Students Officer following an uncontested election. The Council posts for the LGBT, BME, and Disabled Students Officers, among others, were also announced.
For a full account of the results, visit the CCSU website.
Photos courtesy of CSRfm.
