Cambridge SU election results 2021: Meet your new SU team

After a closely fought online campaign, the votes are in and The Tab Cambridge can now reveal the winners of the Cambridge SU Lent Elections 2021.

If statistics are your thing: 4,520 people voted in the elections. Murray Edwards had the highest turnout in the election with a 45.8% turnout. Classics faculty had the highest turnout out, with a 33.2% total. The overall turnout was lower than last year, when the turnout was 5,144, with the bulk of this being a decrease in undergraduate turnout.

In some cases it was breath-takingly close, but without further ado, here is the 2021 Cambridge SU team:

President (UG)

Zak Coleman has been elected President (UG). He recently told the Tab:

Pronouns: He/him

College: Jesus

Subject: HSPS (Sociology Track)

Describe yourself in three words: “Professional, affordable, TRESemmé”

What do you stand for in five words: “Concrete action on students’ priorities”

Why people should vote for you in seven words: “Prioritising student welfare, fairness and climate action”

What is the number one policy you would implement if elected: “Getting a week 5 reading week implemented by Michaelmas 2022”

Reacting to his victory, Zak told the Tab: “I’m super overwhelmed but feeling incredibly grateful to everyone who voted for me and for a fairer University that takes action on the urgent issues faced by students, on everything from the student mental health crisis to the climate crisis. I’m so excited to get to work pushing for positive changes for students to create a University that works better for everyone!

“I also want to thank all the other candidates for such a good-natured, fun and productive campaign. It was fantastic to run against such amazing people who I have so much respect for, and whose ideas and perspectives I will definitely take forward in the role. I know Cambridge can do so much more to make our experiences here even better, and I can’t wait to get started working to implement my manifesto policies on behalf of students. I also want to say how excited I am by the incredible team that’s been elected and all the work we are going to do together!”

“For now though, I’m off to watch the latest Drag Race episode and forget about the two weeks’ worth of supo work I need to do tomorrow!”

President (PG)

Anjum Nahar has been elected President (PG). She recently told the Tab:

Pronouns: She/her

College: Murray Edwards

Subject: MPhil English

Describe yourself in three words: “Friendly, motivated, determined”

What do you stand for in five words: “Happiness, well-being, justice, equality, assurance”

Why people should vote for you in seven words: “I will improve the postgraduate student experience”

What is the number one policy you would implement if elected: “Secure funding, implement living wages, and all colleges to divest!”

Reacting to her victory, Anjum told the Tab: “Thank you so much to everybody who voted and supported this campaign. This is a win for all grassroots campaigners in Cambridge – I pledge to work tirelessly alongside you in your fight for a more fair and ethical University.

“Together we will create long-lasting material change, and thoroughly improve and enhance the Cambridge student experience.”

Access, Education and Participation Officer (UG)

Zaynab Ahmed has been elected Access, Education and Participation Officer (UG). She recently told the Tab:

Pronouns: She/her

College: Newnham

Subject: Classicist

Describe yourself in three words: “The mum friend”

What do you stand for in five words: “Making Cambridge accessible and personal”

Why people should vote for you in seven seconds: “Think ABBA: Take a Chance on Me”

What is the number one policy you would implement if elected: “Making Faculties more accessible, both online and in real life”

Reacting to her victory, Zaynab told the Tab: “Honestly I kind of can’t believe I got it, Alex was a great candidate with a lot of experience so I’ve been sort of batting away ‘what if’s’ all afternoon. Now that it’s all a bit settled I’m really happy and excited and can’t wait to get started!

“I think my priorities at the beginning of the role are going to be about ensuring that the university is ready for the transition back to majority in-person teaching and thinking about how we can make Cambridge students’ education more accessible for everyone. I know there’s also a lot of access and outreach work that happens over the summer so I’m really keen to be in conversation with the staff and students who organise these amazing projects and support them in any way I can.”

Access, Education and Participation Officer (PG)

Amelia Jabry has been elected Access, Education and Participation Officer (PG). She recently told the Tab:

Pronouns: She/her

College: Lucy Cavendish

Subject: MPhil Sociology

Describe yourself in three words: “Scrap App fees!”

What do you stand for in five words: “Scrap the postgraduate application fee”

Why people should vote for you in seven words: “I will scrap the postgraduate application fee”

What is the number one policy you would implement if elected: “Scrap fees which are a barrier to postgraduate access”

Reacting to her victory, Amelia told the Tab: “I’m just really chuffed at the turnout. I think I got the most votes of any single candidate at 2722 which means people really turned out and want to see app fees scrapped/ want change! So just a thank you to everyone xx”

BME Officer

Tara Choudhury has been elected BME Officer. She was running uncontested. She recently told the Tab:

Pronouns: She/her

College: Sidney Sussex

Subject: History and Politics

Describe yourself in three words: “Sexy, northern and formidable”

What do you stand for in five words: “Meaningful progress on our terms”

Why people should vote for you in seven words: “I know how to get shit done”

What is the number one policy you would implement if elected: “A completely new system for how racism is handled here”

Reacting to her victory, Tara told the Tab: “I would just want to say that I’m so so pleased so many BME students took the time to get behind me and the campaign. the high turnout for this position (relative to overall turnout) just shows that BME students have faith in my ability to deliver on my manifesto!

“I can’t wait to get to work on the radical anti-racist measures this institution is in such dire need of, and want to congratulate the other successful candidates, as well as those who were unsuccessful but ran admirable campaigns. Let’s goooooooo”

Disabled Students’ Officer

Anna ward has been elected Disabled Students’ Officer. They recently told the Tab:

Pronouns: They/them,

College: Emmanuel

Subject: MML (Italian and French)

Describe yourself in three words: “Funny, gay, disabled”

What do you stand for in five words: “Equal opportunity for all students!”

Why people should vote for you in seven words: “I’ll be a wheely good DSO”

What is the number one policy you would implement if elected: “Funding and restructuring the DRC for more efficient student support”

Reacting to their victory, Anna told the Tab: “I’m shocked and honoured and ready to wheel on Toope’s toes”

Women’s Officer

Milo Eyre-Morgan has been elected Women’s Officer. They were running uncontested. They recently told the Tab:

Pronouns: They/He

College: Newnham

Subject: Natural Sciences

Describe yourself in three words: “Bad at Brevity”

What do you stand for in five words: “Improving welfare for marginalised students”

Why people should vote for you in seven words: “Be poggers. Vote Milo. also material change”

What is the number one policy you would implement if elected: “Consent workshop training for clubs and societies, and in Lent.”

Reacting to their victory, Milo told the Tab: “I’m just very excited to continue Chloe’s good work and happy to be elected!”

Welfare and Community Officer

Ben Dalitz has been elected Welfare and Community Officer.

They were running against Ewan Hawkins. Neither candidate reached the threshold in the first round of voting, and taking second-preferences into account both candidates received exactly the same amount of votes. Since they received a higher amount of votes in the first round, Ben Dalitz has been elected.

Pronouns: They/them

College: St John’s

Subject: MPhil Classics

Describe yourself in three words: “Dedicated, experienced, caring”

What do you stand for in five words: “Student welfare through systemic change”

Why people should vote for you in seven words: “Will listen to students and centre liberation work”

What is the number one policy you would implement if elected: “Access to competent, well-funded welfare services and material support”

Reacting to their victory, Ben told the Tab: “I’d like to say thank you to my lovely campaign team and everyone who’s supported me, and thanks to the other candidate for such a close campaign.

“I’m really excited to get started in the summer and looking forward to working with the new sabb team to make positive change in cambridge!”

Double Time Officer

Elliot Aitken has been elected as Double Time Officer. They were running uncontested.

Pronouns: He/him

College: Murray Edwards

Subject: English

Reacting to their victory, Elliot told the Tab: “Thanks to everyone who voted! I can’t wait to get started and help represent double-time students, as well as publicise this life-changing option for studying!”

University Councillor

Freddie Poser has been elected University Councillor, on the basis of second-preference votes. He recently told the Tab:

Pronouns: He/him

College: Gonville and Caius

Subject: Computer Science

Describe yourself in three words: “Experienced, driven, approachable”

What do you stand for in five words: “Justice and fairness for students”

Why people should vote for you in seven words: “Experience and drive to hold leadership accountable”

What is the number one policy you would implement if elected: “Continue keeping the university honest on divestment, covid and complaints”

Reacting to his victory, Freddie told the Tab: “I’m incredibly honoured to have been re-elected and I look forward to another year of holding the university to account.

“I want to congratulate Charli on a well-fought campaign, she had some great ideas and was a brilliant opponent.”

Congratulations to our new Cambridge SU officers from The Tab Cambridge.

For a more detailed breakdown of the results, please click here.

Feature image credits: The Cambridge SU