What Happened with the Students' Union Elections?

With another set of Executive Officers elected, Leicester Student News looks back on this year's election cycle

This year's Students' Union election cycle had an unspecified number of candidates disqualified halfway through the campaigning week. Leicester Student News has conducted an investigation into what happened and why candidates were disqualified.

Please note, candidates disqualified for engaging in harassment were contacted for a statement but declined to respond.

What Happened:

According to multiple reports from students and candidates, some candidates in this election cycle engaged in bullying and harassment to secure votes. In some instances, candidates allegedly snatched students' phones and cast votes for themselves. This situation is unprecedented and has led to many calling for reforms to the way Students' Union elections are organised.

One student reported being harassed by a candidate while on her way to a lecture.

“[The candidate] literally took my phone and voted for herself and two of her mates—I still have no idea who they are,” she said.

“She stood in my way as I was walking and stared at me until I took my headphones off and spoke to her,” the student recalled. “Then she got really pushy about me voting for her right there. Even now, I have no idea who those other two were that I voted for. The website and the confirmation email didn’t say, and I couldn't find any way to change my vote online.”

Another student reported being “guided through” the voting process by a group of candidates.

“There was a group of them at a table in Percy Gee, pretty late,” she said. “They basically spent five minutes looking at each other before they sent this guy over to do it [vote for a candidate] for her. I just had this guy come up to me, hand me a flyer, and then stand there while guiding me through how to vote—until I voted for this girl I’d literally never heard of before.”

“On one hand, I wouldn’t say I’m angry about it, but I do think it kind of ruins the whole point of the student election—and basically everybody was doing it. I feel like something should be done. If more people are angry about it, then something should be done about it.”

Alex Burt, one of the candidates for Community and Wellbeing Officer, said, “What I saw

happening was primarily groups of people or singular people going up to others, leaning over their phones, pointing them to the exact candidates to vote for—that sort of thing.”

“It's a massive symptom that the political culture at the university is in a horrendous place,” said Alex, “you had candidates that didn't seem interested in campaigning on their policies, ideas or values, but instead were far more interested in winning at all costs”

“I think the SU handled the whole situation quite poorly, I think the rules are not fit for purpose, there is stuff that happened that I don't think they are taking seriously”

Getting Disqualified:

With the Students' Union unable to determine which votes were legitimate, they disqualified an entire slate of candidates—including some who were not involved or aware of the misconduct.

Leicester Student News also spoke to two candidates who were disqualified. Despite neither being involved, Abigail and Charlie were on the same slate as candidates who engaged in harassment to secure votes.

Abigail and Charlie told LSN about how the Students' Union received complaints both from individual students and opposing candidates.

“This election was so filthy that you had different ‘coalitions’ writing complaints against each other,” said Abigail.

Charlie echoed this, “There was a lot of sneakery that was actually against what I was expecting. I spoke to the current Communities Officer, and he said usually it's more low-key.”

There were also reportedly cases of candidates on one slate being asked to report candidates on an opposing slate to the Students' Union.

“We had a group chat, and I think this was on Tuesday, a photo came out, it had the three main officers for the other slate, and they had their lanyards on. One of the rules is you can't have the university logo on,” explains Charlie, “[Someone on my slate] encouraged everyone in the slate to complain. That was the level that it was going to.”

On complaints to the Students' Union, Abigail said; “There was a meeting where we went through the video and photographic evidence against the slate. That was what we witnessed in the meeting, and we were also sent a file containing all the statements filed. All the evidence was mostly against one person. When you’re in a slate there's a risk that comes with it; if anyone makes a serious breach of election rules, you all get disqualified.”

Although both candidates recognise the negatives of this election, they also recognise the positives.

“From my perspective, I did take some good things away from it. The majority of people in my slate were really lovely and friendly, and it was great to meet them and spend time with them,” said Abigail.

“It was also a step out of my comfort zone doing lecture shout outs and just chatting with students on campus. I'm trying to take the positives from the elections, rather than ruminate on the negatives.”

The biggest concern though, is student safety.

“The number one priority is that students need to feel safe on campus when campaigning is happening,” said Abigail, “I’d also like to congratulate the elected officers for next year – I wish you all the best in your roles!”

The Students' Union Response:

In a statement on social media, the Students' Union said:

“The Students’ Union has received a significant volume of complaints this week, and after careful consideration and thorough investigation, we have made the difficult decision to disqualify several candidates from the 2025 Elections.

We regret to announce that as a consequence, any slates containing these candidates will also be disqualified. The affected candidates have been informed.

In order to continue to work through the remaining complaints, we have decided to delay the formal vote count to ensure we have adequate time to thoroughly review the situation and so, have postponed the official count and formal results night event that was scheduled for tomorrow.

We are deeply committed to delivering free and fair elections and will continue to uphold the election rules to ensure the election remains in line with the democratic principles of our organisation.

Additionally, we’d also like to extend our thanks to our student community for their active participation. Your voices are heard, and are truly valued.”

This Situation is Unprecedented—So, What Happens Next?

Growing calls for reform have emerged, with students demanding changes to how the Students' Union conducts elections. Concerns over harassment, aggressive campaigning, and excessive waste have prompted discussions about the need for stricter regulations.

“Something has to be done,” said one first-year student, “candidates pestering students isn’t a good look, I want to be able to participate in democratic processes without being harassed. The amount of posters in the SU was excessive too.”

Another first-year student said, “I've not even read any of the other manifestos, I wanted to read all the manifestos and make an informed choice.”

In a statement on social media, Community and Wellbeing Officer-elect Cleo Cornou addressed these concerns, condemning the reported misconduct and advocating for reforms. She highlighted issues of harassment on campus as a key concern.

"This week, campaigning for the SU elections has started, and I have been shocked by the littering of posters and harassment taking place on campus," she wrote.

"My first priority in my manifesto is female safety on campus. I have been made aware that many students have felt unsafe and uncomfortable as they are stopped on campus and pressured to vote. This is unacceptable, undemocratic, and should not be allowed."

She also outlined several proposed reforms for election campaigning as part of her role as Community and Wellbeing Officer:

- Forbidding candidates from accosting students on campus to campaign.

- Setting up designated billboards for campaign posters to make election materials more manageable and reduce littering.

- Placing the SU in charge of printing flyers to ensure eco-friendly practices and reduce waste.

- Encouraging digital marketing as a more sustainable alternative.

With the next elections exactly a year away and a new committee of officers stepping into their roles in the meantime, what will be done remains to be seen. However, we will likely be seeing reforms to the way elections are done at Leicester Students' Union.