The Tab Presents: Your Presidential Candidates

Election season with EUSA is slightly trivial, annoying, and wastes A LOT of paper, but it can at least be entertaining. Between March 11th and 13th you will be able to vote for your new representatives in the world of student politics!

Until then, we have a week of flyposting, soap boxing, attention seeking, and all sorts of fun and games to decide a popularity contest. Policies are announced, propaganda is spread, and you’ll fail to pass even one meal in Teviot without being bugged by an election campaign.

To get you informed and fired up, The Tab brings you the lowdown on the candidates standing for the EUSA Presidency!

 

Dan Scott Lintott

Bio: “I’m Dan Scott Lintott and I’m running to be President of EUSA. I’m want to be your President because I want to be part of a more practical, focussed and inclusive Union. Recently, EUSA has been dominated by a small group of people who pass niche policies, create a cliquey atmosphere and use this to widen the distance between students and their Union. I know the President has the ability to make our Students’ Association relevant to its members and I want to fully take advantage of this opportunity.”

Flagship Policies:

• Updating SAGE: Easier access and wider publicity
• A Comprehensive Campus Calendar
• Wider food selection and allow card payment in library cafe
• Give tampons and condoms to freshers
• Support Women’s, BAME, Disabled and LGBT+ campaigns
• Help, uphold, and streamline reporting process for sexual harassment with online anonymous system
• More funding and greater access for counselling service

Tab Analysis: The former Student editor is seeking anti-establishment credentials. Emphasises democratic angle, and claims he will challenge current “abstract and alienating” policy process as “a President for all students”. This is easy to say. Allowing cards in the library cafe is great. Campaign is slick, but a bit arrogant.

Biggest Weakness: Smug.

 

Briana N.F. Pegado

Bio: “I believe that if we are expected to value our education, we need our education to be accessible. By education I mean learning spaces, information and teaching. I believe EUSA should function as a space for us to come together to learn from one another and play. I believe EUSA should provide us with improved feedback, fair accommodation, and better transport. I know how to affect change in EUSA without becoming a product of its politics.”

Flagship Policies:

• 1-to-1 Compulsory Feedback Sessions with your Course Tutor each term
• City Wide Bike Scheme
• “Accommodation Hub”: makes it easier to book accommodation, protects from landlords, part time students to get University as guarantor and to be exempt from council tax
• Crisis Counselling Service: a professional will see you within the same week
• EUSA Food Share
• White Wall Initiative (WWI): allows ECA students to showcase and get funding
• Student Run EUSA Brewery

Tab Analysis: The only candidate to have run before. She lost last time, but now has experience. Claims to know “how to affect change in EUSA without becoming a product of its politics”. Seems to be competent but not irritating. Policies are student focused and non-ideological. Largely pragmatic, but some policies may still be over ambitious. WWI emphasis is original, but may only have niche appeal.

Biggest Weakness: Boring.

 

Kirsty Haigh

Bio: “I’m Kirsty and I’m running for President because I want to make EUSA more exciting, more ethical and more accessible! As your Vice President of Services I’ve worked hard and made plenty of big wins but there’s still so much more to do. I want to take all the skills and knowledge I’ve built up over the last year and put them to good use- continuing to win for students.”

Flagship Policies:

• Fight for a democratic University & fair pay for University staff
• Create a SHAG week (sexual health awareness and guidance) to break the taboos around sex
• Introduce a bike hire scheme and lobby the council for safer bike lanes across the city
• Fight for make Edinburgh a zero tolerance to sexual harassment city
• Push for student involvement in University research
• Fight for a democratic University & fair pay for University staff

Tab Analysis: The most ‘qualified’ candidate. However, this also means she is very much part of the EUSA establishment. Successfully enacted policies as VP of Services, such as creating a student run Housing Cooperative. Also behind the move to make EUSA “a feminist” and the controversial censorship of Blurred Lines. Unashamedly ideological. Verges on caricature of student leftist. This will attract some students, but will be off-putting for others.

Biggest Weakness: She’s already one of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkuuo5mGhgo

 

Jacob J. Webber

Bio: “Student politics would be a lot more interesting if we debated decisions EUSA makes before they are made, rather than after as we seem to now. Instead of executive decisions or decisions made by a group of ten politics nerds in a poorly advertised meeting we should have university wide debates on important issues. If I am elected president there will be an online vote on all policy and decisions EUSA makes.”

Flagship Policies:

• Giving you an online vote on all key policy and decisions
• Lunch and drink meal deal for £3 or less in EUSA venues
• More buses at peak times to and from Kings Buildings
• A well maintained list of reliable Letting agencies so you can rent with confidence
• Legal support for students taking action against their landlord
• No cosy deals with the university, offering silence for cash
• Fighting your corner if the university mistreats you
• Demanding the university improve its awful web interface and Learn mobile app

Tab Analysis:  His surreal and obscene campaign is the most flamboyant and entertaining. Online vote is original and could be appealing. Populist policies could prove, well, popular. We’ve also seen enough of his naked body for this year, but you can never enough violins.

Biggest Weakness: Campaign videos

Or, these may be his best asset. Depends on your perspective I guess.

 

At the end of the day, whoever you vote for, they’ll focus on accommodation, some kind of progressive social justice campaign, being accessible/representative, and offering you free/cheap things. Cringe inducing reference to sex and alcohol is also inevitable.

 

(Or, there is always RON.)