SU Elections 2021 Results Night - RHUL SU

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SU Elections 2021 Results Night
Huw Stephens 01:56
Welcome to the Royal Holloway Students' Union elections 2021. My name is Huw Stephens, it's a
pleasure to be your host as we discover who will be leading your union in a, fingers crossed, post
pandemic world. That's the plan. Normally, of course, we'd be in the campus bar, the few VK's in hand
announcing the big results. But you know how it is with the unprecedented state of the world as we
come around to the new normal, and we do things virtually, which is why I'm in my kitchen in a suit.

Huw Stephens 02:33
Hopefully, that's boxed off pandemic buzzword bingo for this evening to strap yourself in and get ready
for an evening of great entertainment, with performances from the musical theatre society, Savoy
opera, and more also a look back on the special moments of 2020. And yes, that surprised me as well.
And of course, we're all here. We're all here for the results of the 2021 Royal Holloway Students' Union
elections.

Huw Stephens 03:06
Now for those of you that haven't the foggiest, what this is all about. Essentially, we're bringing you the
results of this week's elections that School reps and NUS delegates and sabbatical officers. And here
with me tonight is someone that you are all very familiar with the current su president. It's Kate Roberts.
Hello, Kate.

Kate Roberts 03:31
Thanks Huw. If someone told me a year ago, I would be hosting an online election show with Huw
Stephens whilst in a global pandemic, I think I would have laughed at them. But this almost feels
normal somehow. I want to thank you for hosting tonight and adding a fresh face to the affair. As these
bags under my eyes show just how this year has gone. I hope you're all excited to find out the results. I
know I am.

Kate Roberts 03:52
But unfortunately, as you may know, I was not allowed to run this year as I have done my two terms
and apparently COVID is unprecedented, but not quite unprecedented enough to get me back for
another year. We have amazing candidates running in the elections. And I hope you will have seen all
of their great work online over the past few weeks. Beyond our amazing candidates, you will also have
seen RON on the ballot paper. I wanted to clarify that this is obviously not a person called Ron, but the
option to reopen nominations. Hopefully Ron has a very quiet evening.

Huw Stephens 04:23
And this is quite a twist because I thought Ron Weasley was running you see Kate?

Kate Roberts 04:29

                                                   -1-
Unfortunately not here. Although I guess we're hollaway students have their own magical castle, so not
too far off.

Huw Stephens 04:35
It is a lovely building that you've got there. Thank you very much, Kate. Also joining us this evening as
our nosy neighbour and head announcer we've got last year's president Jack O'Neill. Hello, Jack.

Jack O'Neill 04:51
Hello, everyone. Hi Huw and thanks for having me on tonight and thanks for finally responding to my
messages as well.

Jack O'Neill 04:58
So election results, but virtual, how exciting no awkward acceptance speeches, the ability to mute your
presenter like right now, and no calls to stop the count. Hopefully we'll see. In years gone by candidates
have battled with the beast from the east, students have battled with candidates loitering outside
Bedford library trying to get their votes. But this year has really been a year like no other. Other than
2020 of course, in which case it's been exactly the same. Anyway, thanks for having me on tonight.
And good luck to all the candidates.

Huw Stephens 05:31
Absolutely, and we'll be seeing more of Jack later. So as we go through tonight's show, we've got guest
appearances, student performances, and some throwbacks as well for you alongside the results of all
those important positions, and since we've been talking about castles in Egham or a palace by the sea
who knows, sit tight, grab a drink and a snack Of course, and let me introduce you to our first music
break for tonight the brilliant Charlie, Anna and India from musical theatre society who are going to
perform Learn To Do It from the musical Anastasia.

Kate Roberts 07:10
[Musical Theatre Society performance of Learn To Do It from Anastasia.]

Huw Stephens 08:59
Thank you, Anna, Charlie and India from the musical theatre society. Fantastic stuff. I'm now wondering
if I can learn to do it.

Kate Roberts 09:11
If I can learn to do it, then you can learn to do it too Huw.

Huw Stephens 09:15
We can all learn to do it. So this is a time to celebrate the future. But also a chance to look back at the
year we've had beyond the Netflix binge watching, lots of great food, not enough exercise, even though
I promised myself I would be fit at the beginning of lockdown. didn't go quite a plan. How did you all
spend your time hopefully a little bit better than mine. And what can you tell us about this past year
Kate?

                                                     -2-
Kate Roberts 09:44
Actually there's been quite a bit to talk about despite the pandemic. It's now been a year since I stood
for election and a year since I was voted in as president of the Students' Union on what a year it was.
The voting period actually closed just as Coronavirus was a distant threat from the knees, and we have
no idea what the next year would bring us. So it's safe to say nothing has played out as I expected
when I was voted into this role, literally nothing.

Kate Roberts 10:09
It's been a challenge. It's been incredibly difficult at times. But it's also been the most amazing job and
the most fantastic experience in the world. I could list you everything I've learned in the last year, but I
think this will end up going on far too long. And I know realistically, you're just putting up with my face
because you really want to know who will be sitting in this chair next year.

Kate Roberts 10:28
But I did think it would be particularly poignant to reflect on the last year, the challenges, the missed
club nights. But most of all the inspiring ways that students have stepped up and had their voice heard.
throwing the clock right back to March last year, myself as the Vice President Education and previous
President Jack O'Neill were knee deep in daily discussions with the university about summer
assessments. Having two elected representatives at the table made it possible for us to argue
successfully for a safety net and best 90 policy, protecting student grades in a turbulent time. Since
then, we've helped to develop the flexible education approach, secured a new extensions policy, and
helps the university to understand the strain and impact the virus was having on the whole learning
experience.

Kate Roberts 11:10
By having a place at the top table in daily rapid response meetings, that's an 8:30 meeting every
morning for a year. Elected roles have ensured that the collective voice of students has heard and
embedded in every decision. And it's not just an academic issues where we've had an impact. We've
launched Royal Hideaway, planned a whole events programme then had to change it all last minute
when government guidance changed, supported those in isolation through the launch of an online
shop, delivered wellbeing campaigns tackling house meeting and sexual health and launched a new
digital advice centre and so much more.

Kate Roberts 11:43
Alongside this is the fantastic work of our academic reps. While this week we've been voting for school
reps. These roles have been instrumental in ensuring decisions the impacts you on your course have
student input. And it wouldn't be a year and review without touching on our amazing student groups.
You guys have come together to deliver an exceptional array of online events. Yes, you've had your
year scuppered by the pandemic but that didn't stop you. Only last week we saw amazing
collaborations with the Ab Harm and friends virtual concert. MTS launched the spinner, while netball
and women's rugby had a virtual crossover social. The passion students have shown this year will be
needed more than ever as we move out of the pandemic. Rebuilding won't be simple. And it's important
that every student continues to have their voice heard by the top decision makers.

                                                    -3-
Kate Roberts 12:30
That's why your votes this week, no matter who you choose tonight will go on to lead your union. And
it's then that will need to grasp the new normal with both hands and ensure that students are at the
heart of Royal Hollaways future.

Huw Stephens 12:43
Thank you very much, Kate to pull a year like this during a pandemic is honestly remarkable. And you
should all be proud of adapting and delivering in the way you have, despite all the challenges. I know
the team were a bit nervous about the elections this year, of course, but it's turned out pretty well. 31
candidates in total, and hopefully every position filled as long as RON has a shocker this evening of
course. Things were a bit rocky with the Life sciences and the Environment school rep position with no
candidates coming forward initially, but somehow that has turned out to be the largest school wrap
election. And it's great to see as well, the sabbatical officer roles or being contested again this year.
Who knew people would want the job after a year like we've all had?

Huw Stephens 13:40
Oh, hello. Hello. Yeah. Okay. Listen, guys a bit of an update in my in my ear. I'm just hearing that we've
got an incoming up. Yeah, it's an incoming update. Kate. Kate, have you heard anything?

Kate Roberts 13:59
Yes, here a breaking update, just in. This year's turnout should now be visible on your screens, which
compared to last year looks like this.

14:06
[A slide on screen showing the turn out in 2021 at 2124 (16.9%) against 2020 at 3628 (30.6%)]

Kate Roberts 14:07
A great turnout considering the circumstances. And to incentivize some competitive spirit between our
130 clubs and societies. We once again ran a prize for the first group under 50 members, and the first
group over 50 members to get 100% votes and from their members. I'm delighted to announce that the
winning clubs are now available to share on your screens.

Kate Roberts 14:11
[A slide on screen showing the results of the Student Group voting competition. The winner of the under
50 members is Absolute Harmony. The winner of the over 50 members is Musical Theatre Society]

Kate Roberts 14:27
Congratulations. There's 50 quid winging its way over to your restricted accounts in the next few days.

Huw Stephens 14:34
Thank you so much, Kate. Now, I know I know you're here for the results. But unfortunately, we're
gonna have to drag this out longer than the queue to get a summer ball ticket. Patience, my friends. I
am joking. Don't worry. It's finally time for some announcements. So over to you, Jack.

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Jack O'Neill 14:52
Yeah, first up, we've got NUS delegates. So each year the National Union of Students has a
conference where they discuss and vote on the agenda for the coming year. Think of it a little bit like
the Eurovision Song Contest except for rather than a song. There's lots of writing. And rather than
performance, there's a lot of talking. A lot of talking.

Jack O'Neill 15:13
Anyway, this is a volunteer position. And there are three positions up for grabs, as Kate as president
gets to go automatically, lucky Kate. And this year, it will all be done in the comfort of your own home
rather than going to Liverpool. So the benefit of that, I suppose, is that you can go throughout the whole
of conference without being sober. But we'll see. Anyway, Royal Holloway it is time to find out who your
NUS delegates are.

Jack O'Neill 15:39
Congratulations, Milo Dack, Maciej Pawlik, Henn Warwick.

Huw Stephens 15:52
Huge congratulations to all of you, you'll be enjoying the National Conference from the comfort of your
own home. And as Jack said in just under two weeks time. You know what, I'm feeling flush. So let's
keep going with this. Hit me with some school rep results.

Kate Roberts 16:12
We introduced school reps into these elections last year. And it's great to see so many candidates
standing in the positions this year. Again, these are voluntary roles. And this year, school reps have
been working hard alongside the academic reps in their schools to secure changes across campus.
And with big conversations coming up. I'm excited to see who will be taking those talks forward.

Jack O'Neill 16:32
Thank you, Kate. There's six of them. So we better crack on. We'll be giving these results out in
alphabetical order. So the first school up is the School of Business and Management. There are two
candidates for this role. So good luck to both.

Jack O'Neill 16:47
And the winner is Toby Bates.

Huw Stephens 16:53
Huge congratulations to you. Who's up next Jack. We've got the School of Engineering, Physical and
Mathematical Sciences next, there's only one candidate for this role. So hopefully, Ron has kept his
head down.

Jack O'Neill 17:08
And the winner is Joshua Yewman.

Jack O'Neill 17:15

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Up next, we've got the School of Humanities and this was another contested election. So good luck to
both of the candidates.

Jack O'Neill 17:22
And the winner is Ananya Krishna.

Jack O'Neill 17:29
Congratulations, everyone.

Jack O'Neill 17:31
It took a while to breathe life into this race given the current environment, but we actually ended up with
a really strong contested election for the School of Life Sciences and the Environment. So once again,
good luck to all the candidates and let's find out who won.

Jack O'Neill 17:46
And the winner is Leia Davies-Vale.

Jack O'Neill 17:53
Congratulations. We'll now move on to the final two school rep election results. For both of these races.
There's only one candidate so fingers crossed that RON has kept to themselves. First of all, we have
the School of Law and social sciences.

Jack O'Neill 18:09
And the winner is Nalissa Wilkinson.

Jack O'Neill 18:14
Congratulations Nalissa and good luck for the year ahead. And finally, we have the School of
Performing and digital arts. This school will be represented by

Jack O'Neill 18:25
Olivia Earl

Jack O'Neill 18:28
Congratulations to all new school reps.

Jack O'Neill 18:32
RON, RON, you've lost. Yeah, you've lost all of them. Just come back next year. Okay. Yeah. Cheers.
Anyway, well done to all of the candidates.

Huw Stephens 18:44
Huge congratulations to all our winners and a massive thank you to all the candidates as well, you did
everyone have the SU proud. It's time for us to take a quick break. Don't go anywhere as we will be
right back with some more results after this very special performance from Savoy Opera with Regular
Royal Queen.

                                                   -6-
Kate Roberts 19:45
[Performance from Savoy Opera with Regular Royal Queen

Huw Stephens 21:36
Thank you so much to Savoy for that spectacular performance a well done to everybody involved. And
Kate, I've got a question for you. Is BNOC still used around campus? Because I think that's one of the
perks when elected?

Kate Roberts 21:54
Absolutely not. But you do get the occasional offer of a drink on a night out though.

Huw Stephens 21:58
Which sounds like a pretty decent deal to me.

Kate Roberts 22:01
Well, it's either that or your attempt to fix someone's problem was under the influence and I'm amazed
that people still remember to email me the next day if I'm honest. And a few years back I think it was
2014 one of the candidates ran a YouTube video campaign that went viral I think it reached over
90,000 views and was covered by the BBC. Should we play it?

Huw Stephens 22:20
Let's do it.

22:22
[Youtube video of Jason Michalski's 2014, Co-President Sports & Development Thrift Shop Cover
Parody]

Kate Roberts 23:06
I absolutely forgotten that that song existed, pretty cool that I went viral, though. Anyway, do you know
what Jack I reckon it's time for another announcement.

Jack O'Neill 26:25
Oh, go on then. Well, what an interesting year to be representing student groups, especially when we
can all even be in the same room together. We all know that running student groups can be a real
challenge. Even before the pandemic, there were difficulties such as deciding what events to run, when
to run them and also what pub to go to afterwards. But this year, student groups have really taken it to
another level, adapting to online only engagement, running events such as virtual tours, debates,
quizzes, coffee, quizzes? Wait, do people still do quizzes? I thought everyone was fed up with that
about 11 months ago.

Jack O'Neill 27:02
Anyway, we'll move on. Student groups have really knocked out the park this year. But next year is
going to be a challenge working out how best to get them up and running again and used to the new

                                                   -7-
normal. But the question is who is up for that challenge? We're about to find out. Royal Holloway your
new VP Societies and Sports is,

Jack O'Neill 27:28
Alex Perry.

Jack O'Neill 27:31
Congratulations the new VP Societies and Sports

Huw Stephens 27:37
Huge congratulations to our winner. Well done to all candidates for a fantastic campaign, and talking of
student groups though, there is a performance now by MTS's Liv, Catherine and Megan of Up The
Ladder from the musical Everyday Rapture.

Kate Roberts 27:56
[Performance by Musical Theatre Society's Liv, Catherine and Megan of Up The Ladder from the
musical Everyday Rapture]

Huw Stephens 30:17
Welcome back, tell you what Royal Holloway you are smashing out one hell of an event this evening.
Okay, Kate, what's coming up.

Kate Roberts 30:26
Next we've got the results for Vice President Wellbeing and Diversity, a really important role each and
every year, but this year particularly has seen some massive challenges around socialisation and self
motivation. We've all felt the struggle this year, and whilst it's great that we're on the right track to
socialisation town, the next VP Wellbeing and Diversity, we'll have to prioritise making sure people are
safe, letting they're likely quite overgrown hair down in the SU next year.

Jack O'Neill 30:53
Thanks, Kate. I've got 99 problems, but overgrown hair certainly isn't one. And I for one, I'm really
looking forward to that summer ball ticket that I was promised. Two years as a sabb and no S Club
party to see it out, the injustice. Anyway, back to the election results now and next up VP Wellbeing and
Diversity. We've got two fantastic candidates in the running, but only one can be the next VP wellbeing
and diversity. So let's find out who won the race. Royal Holloway, your next VP wellbeing and diversity
is

Jack O'Neill 31:28
Alice Gouda.

Huw Stephens 31:32
Congratulations again to our winner and to all the candidates. We've got more results coming up for
you. But first, it's time for one of our Erasmus students, Jude to perform Crazy by Gnarls Barkley. Jude,
are you ready?

                                                   -8-
Jude Benzaouia 31:48
I'm ready. Thank you for offering me a chance to perform today.

Jude Benzaouia 32:19
[Performance of Crazy by Gnarls Barkley by Jude Benzaouia]

Huw Stephens 34:27
Thank you so much to Jude and welcome back everybody. This year is the first year that campaigning
has been entirely online. Usually there'd be banners and posters and stickers and people dressed up in
weird costumes, blocking the routes to the library, that kind of thing. Now, whilst we haven't missed the
snarky posts on Hateoway about candidates being loud on campus, it's safe to say that this year's
candidates did have it tough.

Huw Stephens 34:58
So candidate question time became something of a zoom-inception with candidates taking on the big
questions on the big zoom. And I don't think anyone missed the aggressively bright lights changing
colour to indicate time left. Although you do wonder whether that's the kind of pressure that sets people
up for success, possibly.

Kate Roberts 35:22
Yeah, I mean, there's lights were definitely something Huw. And thinking about it makes me miss the
SU though.

Huw Stephens 35:29
Yeah, and going to work changing lives?

Kate Roberts 35:32
Sure. But also the VK is in the SU after a long week.

Huw Stephens 35:36
Okay. All right. Well, being an officer comes with some perks, then obviously, up next, we've got the
results for Vice President Education. Bet that's been a fun job this year, and not at all challenging.

Jack O'Neill 35:53
The winning candidate will be working with academic reps to ensure that your education is best that it
can be. Lobbying college to make sure that your voice is heard in all areas of your education. But most
importantly, the winner will have the phrase representing your academic interests ingrained in their
mind. Kate and I can attest to that. There were five wonderful candidates for this position this year, but
only one can be the new Vice President Education. So let's find out who won. Royal Holloway, your
new VP Education is

Jack O'Neill 36:30
Maia Jarvis.

                                                   -9-
Huw Stephens 36:34
Huge congratulations. Even through a pandemic creative students are still smashing out their
performances. Excellent stuff there. So there's only one position left is the top dog. The big one who will
take the lead the SU President. Jack over to you.

Jack O'Neill 36:59
The final one, leading the union through thick and thin, rain or shine, unprecedented and
unprecedented. The role of President really is varied. On one day you'll be working with the media
outlets, on another lobbying the college on their strategy and on another modelling new merchandise in
su shop, even though I was never actually asked to do that, but who knows, maybe you will. Doing all
of this whilst juggling the inbox and working with you to make sure that positive change happens across
campus. It was absolutely wonderful to see such a contested election for this position. But only one
person can be the next Royal Holloway Students' Union President and we're about to find out who so
buckle your seat belts folks. The next Royal Holloway Students' Union President is,

Jack O'Neill 37:51
Henn Warwick.

Huw Stephens 37:55
So there we have it. Congratulations to our winners this evening. We hope you get to celebrate a
massive thank you to all the candidates for making these elections such a success, you should all be
really proud of the campaigns that you ran. And I wish you all the very best for the future. Thank you to
everyone involved in making tonight happen as well. It hasn't been easy putting it together. Thanks to
all the fabulous performers that we've enjoyed and to you at home for joining us as well have a great
Easter break and we'll see you soon.

Huw Stephens 38:32
I leave you all with the sounds of our two music students Jess and Mel Donahue from Intermission UK,
take care.

38:40
[Performance from Jess and Mel Donahue from Intermission UK]

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