The End of an Era

So SSO is not only uncontested this year, but there isn't a single candidate...

25,000 students, not one of them wanting to fill my shoes... Tragic really.

My honest answer (indeed statement really) to all those who have expressed interest/anger at this, is that yes, I am very disappointed by this. At one time it looked as if things could go the other way; there were names floating around and It even looked like being the first contested SSO election in nine years. Sadly, both candidates dropped out of the race before campaigning starts and haven't been heard from since.

So whose fault is it? Well, mine partially. It is, after all, the role of an incumbant officer to find a competant and able successor to continue their work. I'll be the first to admit it isn't an overly high bar to clear.

SSO is the one position whose name is not in the slightest bit intuitive; campaigning last year involved spending most of my time explaining to people what the job actually was. Harder still is it to get people genuinely excited about "Satellite Sites Issues". This, perhaps, is among the reasons for the perenial lack of cadidates/interest.

Add to this the general lack of Guild presence on Satellite Sites. The students the position aims to engage with are, at present, even more distant from our union than Edgbaston campus students - and not just in terms of geography. Whilst this is something I have tried to address during my term so far, I will admit that there is much more still to be done.

It is my hope that there will be candidates for the eventual SSO by-election (date TBC), and that until then both the incumbant guild officer group and the incoming officers are supportive of both Satellite Sites students, and of a Guild role on Satellite sites.

And if it remains unfilled much longer; well, i'll be back in 2010 (now there's a threat you can't take lightly.)

Cheers all.