Nominations for the Cambridge Union Society’s elections for positions served in Easter 2025 are now open. They will close on Friday November 22nd at 6pm. If you wish to stand for election, please fill out the attached nominations form. Note the form requires signature and return from the Vice President. To obtain this please email your form, with your section completed, to Leonas at ‘vicepresident@cus.org’. The signed nomination form must then be returned to the Returning Officers before the closing of the nominations period, with the following also submitted by email to ro@cus.org: a short manifesto (max. 100 words), a long manifesto (single side, A4), and a visually accessible long manifesto (black text on white background with clear font). Ensure that your manifesto complies with the requirements set out in the Constitution of The Cambridge Union. It may be helpful to consult Chapter 7 of the Constitution for these purposes. Please note that any nominations submitted after the 6pm deadline will not be considered. If you have any questions, please send an email to the Returning Officers at ro@cus.org.
The Positions Available for Easter 2025: *President The President is a Trustee of the Cambridge Union and a Director of the subsidiary events management company. They have overall responsibility for their term in office and the events within it. *Debates Officer The Debates Officer is responsible for the programme of debates and forums. *Speakers Officer The Speakers Officer is responsible for putting together a programme of speaker events and interviews. *Social Events Officer The Social Events Officer is responsible for putting together a programme of both weekly and unique social events. *Equalities Officer The Equalities Officer shall be responsible for liaising with the Speakers and Debates Officers to ensure a diverse speakers and debates programme during their term. They will manage a subcommittee of representatives including Access Officer, BME Officer, Disabilities Officer, LGBTQ+ Officer, and Women's and Non-Binary Officer.
Do note that all candidates must have served at least 6 weeks on Full Committee, as verified by the Vice President. Candidates for President must have served as an Officer of the Society. Please refer to the constitution for full eligibility criteria for all roles. If you are considering running for any positions, please take a read of the attached open letter from our Bursar, John Brown. Contribution to our Charitable Objectives All candidates must have gained 4 charitable points, as set out in the constitution. Points may be earned in the following ways for election this term: > Providing accommodation for the Cambridge Inter-Varsity and Women’s Open: 1 point per person per night > Convening any of the Society’s debating competitions: 4 points > Assisting at any of the Society’s debating competitions (this includes judging, being Chief of Staff, Tabulation Officer, or any other volunteer position): 2 points per day of competition or 1 point per half-day > Judging at any of the Society’s debating competitions: 3 points > Sending 30 invitations as part of a Sub-Committee: 1 point (max 1 per term) > Speaking at an Emergency Debate: 1 point (max 1 per term) > Attending Vacation Committee: 1 point (max 1 per term) The Debating Officers are responsible for verifying Charitable Points with the confirmation from the Vice President. Please email James and Joshua at 'debating@cus.org' if you wish to verify how many points you have, with 'vicepresident@cus.org' CC'd in. Moreover, if you have any general queries regarding Charitable Points, please email the Debating Officers (debating@cus.org) and CC the Returning Officers at (ro@cus.org).
Dates and Deadlines Nominations Open: Thursday 14th November. Nominations Close: Friday 22nd November at 6pm. Hustings: 7pm on Thursday 28th November in the Union before the debate that day. Voting Period: Thursday, 28th November to Saturday, 30th November Voting will take place in person at the Cambridge Union; from the end of the debate on Thursday until 11:30pm, and from 11am-7pm on both Friday and Saturday. After the voting period closes, the results will be counted straight after and verified with the winners being announced on the 30th of November at around 7:30pm. Rules and Regulations All forms of 'slating' (candidates supporting other candidates) are banned. Public campaigning can only begin when nominations close and the Returning Officers have approved your candidacy. For further details on the electoral process and rules, please refer to Chapters 7-10 of the Union's Constitution. A more complete outline of the Rules and Regulations will be presented at the Candidates’ Briefing.
If you have any questions or believe a rule has been broken, please get in touch with us at ro@cus.org. Tamara Lake and Raja Ahmed Ali Bhatti
Returning Officers, Michaelmas 2024 |
