Monday night gave students a chance to “meet, greet and eat” the hopefuls standing to be Leader of the Free World Guild.

The event was introduced by Tom Bee, the current Vice President, who gave a brief introduction about the elections and their history, saying he hoped they would go on for “another 1250 years” – which is almost as long as Sam Butler’s premiership.

The big money is spent on the campaign to be President, but there are also candidates standing for NUS Delegate and Student Trustee positions.

The current President, Sam Butler, is standing down after two years in the job and there are several candidates already emerging as serious contenders to take over.

So, in no particular order, those standing  to be your Glorious Leader are;

Hannah  Clare

“If you dare, vote Hannah Clare” is the slogan adorning bright yellow posters and leaflets being distributed by Hannah’s campaign team.

Her policies centre around student participation in the Guild- such as improving the campaigns ran by the Guild and making the new Guild building “a centre of the student experience”.

As both the leader of the Liverpool Debating Union and the Young Greens, she has experience of running a smooth ship. And evidently loves a good barney too.

Alexander Ferguson

 After being out of football for a while, people wondered what Sirralex’s next move would be, and it turns out to be a surprise move into student politics.

The English student and member of LUDS is running on a raft of new services to provide, such as a Nightline service and free rape alarms for all who request them.

Another one calling for better use of the new Guild, he also wants all core course texts books available online.

 It remains to be seen whether sharing a name with the man bringing decades of success to one of the most despised clubs to Liverpudlians will be a help or a hindrance.

Kate Holmes

As one of those who helped establish FemSoc as the prominent society it is around campus today, Kate has pedigree in getting her message across.

With the slogan “Holmes is where the heart is” she has several policies regarding student representation, especially with regards to minority voices.

She also wants to “make small but necessary changes to improve teaching and learning quality” – don’t want to rock the boat too much I suppose, nice bit of moderation there.

James Coe

 James is the current Deputy President, having been pipped to the post by the irrepressible political machine of Sam Butler last time round.

Familiarity around campus and experience in the Guild perhaps gives him an early advantage – even if that is experience in mainly handing out fruit in the library and carving pumpkins.

His policies centre upon making students more employable after university, and making ours “the best Student Union in the country”.

Student housing is an area he sees is a major problem, and aims to improve it across the city. That alone should keep him busy enough.

Oyindamola Johnson

“The little big deal” is advocating changes to timetabling to avoid clashes with student activities, and to increase the amount of the interaction between students and their tutors.

Emma Sims

REPRESENTATION. EDUCATION. COMMUNICATION.

Her punchy slogan is eye catching, shouting at you from her posters.

The policies behind the slogan are varied, from supporting the varied needs of a diverse student faculty to improving communication between students and Guild.

She has also proposed subsidising compulsory travel and the formation of a “textbook exchange forum” for students to purchase second hand books.

Aidan Mann

“The Mann with the Plan” is immaculately dressed economics student Aidan Mann.

The slogan loving candidate also has the snappy “Empower, Engage, Let’s make a change” adorning his leaflets, and is a passionate believer in standing up for students and those who too often don’t get any representation.

Landlords will be held to account, free printer credits awarded and free phone charging points will adorn the Guild.

Harry Anderson

Harry thinks that Liverpool’s poor performance with regards to student satisfaction is something that needs changing.

The social aspect to University is important to him, wanting Wednesdays to be free for sport and making the Guild a livelier and more fun place to be.

He is also looking for the votes of the lazy student demographic, with proposals for all lectures to be recorded and placed onto VITAL. Provided he can motivate them to actually get up and vote.

Callum Lee Doherty

The Mystery Man. Who is he? Where is he from? Where is he going?

Callum wasn’t available to be meeted greeted or eated on Monday night, but his determination to stand for absolutely every position going shows his determination.

His brief manifesto claims he will

• take into consideration any and all inquiries
• intrigue to develop such inquiries into concise, powerful movements
• strive to impress such movements upon all decision making within meetings

Yeah, I’m not sure either.

So there they all are! These are the people who will be accosting you around campus for the next few weeks, as voting is open all week between the 17th – 21st of March. And, as always, The Tab will be there first to bring you all the latest election news.