Niamh Roberts has been elected President of Edinburgh University Students’ Association.
Speaking to assembled Presidential candidates and former and current Sabbatical officers, Roberts said she was excited to take on the role, and was eager to integrate some of the ideas of her competitors.
Speaking to The Student after their victory, Roberts said:
“I’m feeling really good!
“I don’t know what it’s going to look like, but I’m looking forward to it.”
When asked about the makeup of the new Sabbatical officer team consisting entirely of those assigned female at birth, the President-elect said:
“It’s not a representative sample of the student body, and we are committed to creating space for wider representation.”
Roberts ran on a campaign centred around accountability, which included the creation of a Citizens’ Assembly among students and the implementation of a mandatory start-of-semester training module giving students and staff active bystander and violence prevention training.
Hugh Beaumont came in a close second. Speaking to The Student prior to the results announcement, he anticipated:
“It’s going to be close.”
Beaumont further said that he believed that either he or Roberts would win, and either would make a good President.
Following Beaumont, in descending order, were Eda Inal, Jeremy Pestle, Fredrik Mohr, Marco Garcia Mendez, and Hayth Hosnine.
At time of press, exact distributions of votes were not available on the Students’ Association website.
The results announcement, made Friday morning at Potterrow, was delayed by a week due to an investigation into a breach of electoral rules by a candidate.
The candidate was disqualified by the deputy Returning Officer, and was given a chance to appeal this decision to the Students’ Association’s governance subcommittee.
The candidate chose to appeal the decision, however the subcommittee upheld the disqualification, removing them from eligibility for the election.
Speaking on Roberts’ election and the candidate disqualification to The Student, a spokesperson for the Students’ Association said:
“Earlier this morning we announced our new Presidential candidate for 2022/23. We’re delighted to welcome Niamh Roberts as our new Students’ Association President, who completes our 2022/23 Sabbatical Officer team.
“Unfortunately, due to an investigation into a potential breach of the Election Regulations we were not in position to determine a result to announce for the Presidential Election last Friday, and had to pause whilst that process took place.
“The Returning Officer for the Elections who is external and independent from the Students’ Association and University, ruled to disqualify a candidate.
“[Their] appeal was not upheld by the Governance Subcommittee. This candidate has therefore been disqualified.
“We appreciate the frustration and anxiety the delay may have caused, and thank everyone for their patience.”
Niamh Roberts will hold the Presidential office until the next Sabbatical Officer election in 2023.
Image courtesy of Joe Sullivan