Glasgow University Guardian’s Picture Editor, Jim Wilson, has been elected to the SRC board, after receiving a huge percentage of the student vote.
The SRC was forced to hold a by-election after the elections in March resulted in a lack of interested candidates.
With this in mind, President of the SRC, Gavin Lee, was delighted with the level of participation and interest sparked by the election this time.
He said: “Considering the timing of the by-election in the midst of exams, and the weather on polling day, we are pleased with the number of voters. We were especially pleased with the number of candidates standing in the election, and the level of debate and discussion they provided.
Students voted to elect new officers for Charities, Women’s Interests, Students with Disabilities, Mature Students and LGBT Students. There were also two convenor positions available, for the Engineering Faculty and for postgraduates.
The election that saw the most competition was that for the position of Vice-President (Media and Communications) with five students standing. This election also received the highest number of votes, with a total of 650 cast. Jim Wilson won by almost 50% with 323 votes cast in his favour.
Speaking to Guardian, Wilson explained the factors that he think helped him to win by such a margin.
He said: “It was a really chaotic few days in the run-up to the elections and the weather wasn’t the best either! I couldn’t have done it without the help from my friends and all the other students who voted for me so I really appreciate all of their support.
“I’ve enjoyed working with the SRC over the past few years and to be elected as VP Media and Communications is really exciting.
“It’s going to be a challenging year but I’m looking forward to developing and promoting the work of the SRC across campus and beyond.”
Lee also commented on Wilson’s landslide win, adding that, with its newly elected members, the SRC would be able to continue to work for students.
He said: “Jim’s result was certainly impressive, and we look forward to working with all of the Council next year to continue to improve student life at Glasgow.”
