Thursday, March 1 was an election night to remember. Incredibly close races by incredible candidates all vying for a spot to represent the LSE SU.
The anticipation was palpable.
Candidates, their campaign teams, and interested students gathered in the Quad from 8pm onwards. Polls closed at 7pm and with all campaigning finished, the waiting game began.
Alex Peters-Day was re-elected as General Secretary of the Student Union. Her 2012/2013 Sabbatical Officer teammates are Duncan McKenna as Education Officer, Jack Tindale as Community and Welfare Officer, and Matthew De Jesus as Activities and Development Officer.
But the crowd had to wait to learn who won the highly sought full-time positions.
All eyes turned to Josh Still, LSE SU Returning Officer, as he took to the stage to announce the initial round of winners at 8:30pm. Throughout the night the Student Union was getting the reaction of the winners through audio and video interviews.
The non-contested part-time positions of Anti-Racism Officer, Ethics and Environment Officer, LGBT Students’ Officer, and Women’s Officer were announced first. Although the positions were non-contested, students were able to vote to Re-Open Nominations (also known as RON) if they didn’t support any of the candidates. In all four cases, RON was unsuccessful, and Mohamed Harrath, Naomi Russell, John Peart and Alice Stott became the first elected members of the incoming SU team.
It’s really great that people have confidence in me and have elected me, even though it was uncontested,” said John Peart (pictured left), the LGBT Students’ Officer elect. Peart was keen to get straight to work implementing the campaign promises he ran on: “My main manifesto pledge was to put together the largest anti-homophobia campaign that we’ve ever seen here. So I’m going to be planning that from tomorrow onwards basically.”
Three part-time positions remained: the Athletics’ Union President, Disabled Students’ Officer, and International Students’ Officer all faced competition. Nicole Mateer, Sophie Newman and Diana Yu were triumphant, as sound levels rose and fell in the hushed silences before the tallies being read out and the great cheers from the winner’s corners.
I’m so excited,” said Nicole Mateer (pictured right), AU President elect. A netballer who was on the 2011/2012 exec, Mateer is looking forward to the representing the AU and implementing policies to strengthen the athletics wing of LSE. “I just love the AU. For me it’s the best part of the uni experience.”
The first Sab Officer to be announced was the Community and Welfare Officer. It was a three-way competition between Pallavi Bansal, Rosina St James and Jack Tindale. All candidates ran strong campaigns, but it was Tindale (or Captain Jack) who secured the win, setting sail into a direction he never expected when he began studying at LSE.
"Honestly, not a word of a lie, when I first came to LSE I thought I’m just going to keep my head down, make a couple of friends, and try and just focus on academic work. That obviously didn’t happen,” Tindale (pictured right centre) said learning of his win. “My main focus now is making sure that I do my best to help the LSE.”
It was an extremely tight race between Matthew De Jesus and Damini Onifade for Activities and Development Officer.
"I went numb," De Jesus (pictured left) said on awaiting the final round of results.
What an amazing experience this has been and it’s been a real privilege to be up against such a qualified candidate,” De Jesus said as he addressed the crowd after being announced, also thanking his campaigning team for their hard work. De Jesus is looking forward to starting on his manifesto, which has a major focus on the cross-promotion of societies.
The second to last position to be announced was Education Officer. Lois Clifton and Duncan McKenna (pictured right centre) were both strong candidates active in student life and passionate about education issues. McKenna, editor of the Beaver, will now be staying tapped into the school community as the Education Officer elect.
“It feels absolutely fantastic. Words don’t describe it. I feel very proud of the race,” said McKenna. “I’m looking forward to a) working with my fellow staff and b) fixing the things that have disappointed me about the LSE in the past three years. That’s why I got in the race. I wanted to fix things for the next people. And I’m incredibly excited to do that.”
Adrenaline was pumping throughout the crowd as the last results of the night were announced. As the final round of votes was read out, an explosion of applause and cheering erupted as Peters-Day was re-elected as General Secretary for 2012/2013.
I’m completely overwhelmed,” said Peters Day (pictured left) on her re-election. “I love this union. I love this university. And I’m so happy to be her again.
Weren't in the Quad Thursday night? You can feel like you were. Watch videos of the action unfolding, listen to interviews with elected officers, and take a look at the photos documenting the night. For a list of all candidates and winners click here.
Clockwise from top left: Sab Officers elect Jack Tindale, Matthew De Jesus, Duncan McKenna and Alex Peters-Day
By Digital Communications Intern Wanda O'Brien