At Leeds Beckett Students’ Union, we are committed to upholding democratic principles and ensuring that our student elections are conducted with integrity, fairness and transparency. We introduced new rules and regulations for this year’s LBSU Leadership Elections to ensure our student leaders are elected in a fair process, to create a level playing field with equal access to opportunities for all candidates, and to make sure that voting week is a nice experience on campus.

We saw great engagement this year with 28 students running for leadership roles and 3096 voters choosing their new representatives. We would like to thank all the candidates who ran incredible campaigns and every student who took the time to engage with the elections.

During the elections this week, students, staff and candidates were able to submit complaints through a formal process. This was put in place so that we could conduct a full and fair investigation before the results are announced. All complaints and concerns were reviewed thoroughly by the Deputy Returning Officer and then reviewed by the Returning Officer, who is an independent member of staff from the National Union of Students (NUS). The NUS represents university students across the UK and is an impartial body that serves as the Returning Officer for many students’ unions across the country during student elections. Any appeal submitted by a candidate are carefully considered by NUS to ensure a fair outcome.

Following our investigation, 6 candidates were disqualified. We were also made aware that some of our students received unsolicited calls from candidates campaigning. The Students’ Union take these complaints very seriously and we are currently investigating the matter.

Pending the conclusion of any outstanding appeals, we won’t be announcing the results tomorrow in The Hive. We will be publishing the results next week. We appreciate your patience and understanding, and we will share further updates as soon as possible.

The right to raise complaints and concerns is essential to maintaining a fair elections process and we strongly urge our community not to engage in spreading misinformation and rumours. Any form of hostility against complainants or candidates such as intimidation, harassment or targeted backlash will not be tolerated by the Students’ Union and will be reported.

We understand that the disqualification of candidates may lead to heightened emotions within our community. However, it is essential that we continue to treat each other with kindness and respect.

We encourage everyone to recognise and celebrate the hard work, dedication and efforts of all candidates throughout this elections process.

Regards, 
LBSU