Banner Bandit strikes again: Second candidate has banner torn down

It’s every man for himself


A second candidate has had their banner mysteriously removed from the Square.

UEA was rocked by a second election scandal last night, when it emerged that a candidate for Activities and Opportunities Officer had also had his campaign banner stolen.

Yinbo Yu – the sitting Activities and Opportunities Officer at the Union of UEA Students – was horrified to find out that his banner had been torn down and replaced by another candidate’s late on Sunday afternoon.

Yinbo’s banner before it disappeared

Yinbo discovered that his banner was missing when he returned to check on it at around 3pm.

He said: “I rolled up my banner on Saturday night to avoid it being damaged by LCR night like everyone else did, but I found that my banner was missing today [Sunday] in the afternoon and I couldn’t find it anywhere.

“It was replaced by another candidate’s banner. I’ve contacted the DRO and he said he will email security to see if there’s any light that he can shed on this.”

Meanwhile, Yinbo has been forced to replace his banner with an old one left over from his campaign last year.

The Tab also managed to track down the man whose banner had taken Yinbo’s place.

But the candidate insisted that he had not removed Yinbo’s banner, and was not the ‘Banner Bandit’.

Daniel Delargy, running for Welfare Officer, said: “Yinbo’s banner was already gone by the time I arrived on campus. I had a sneaky feeling that space was weirdly vacant.

“I’d say between 1 and 2 was when I moved my banner [into Yinbo’s spot]. I am not the Banner Bandit, nor do I know who the ‘Banner Bandit’ is.”

Daniel also mentioned that he has had to move his own banner twice – and may even have fallen victim to the Bandit himself.

“My banner got taken down Friday and replaced, so I had to move it. I had to move it again on Sunday due to the fact it was blocking posters.

“The first time was because it was taken down – or fell, as I was using (copious amounts of) packaging tape. Since I had no evidence, and the friend I had with me has no faith in sticky tape, we chalked it up to bad luck. I couldn’t put it back up where it was because someone had put theirs up where mine had been.

“The second time was because it blocked posters. I had written an email to those with the posters, but it got drafted instead of sent – so there were complaints and I had to move it again today (as well as send apologies to the people behind the posters).”

In an unguarded moment, he added: “Jesus, this banner is a lot more trouble than it’s worth.

“I’m starting to wish I’d just gone with a pair of pillow cases going ‘Vote DD’ on them.”
Yinbo’s banner was positioned in the centre of the railings running behind the benches at the top of the Square steps, not far from where ‘Ethical Issues’ candidate Alex McCloskey’s banner also disappeared.