Campaigning stage

Campaigning in person is a really good place to reach lots of students in a short time. Remember, hybrid or fully online campaigning is always an option.

Let’s look at some top tips for a successful on-campus campaign:

• Be where students are! Consider where your target group are going to be on campus. Library Square might feel like the obvious choice, but it can also be effective to specifically target different spaces to reach different students.
• Be prepared to introduce yourself and your ideas very quickly. Students might not have a lot of time to listen to your pitch, so you may find it helpful to prepare a 10-second pitch that you can use if people are in a hurry. And don’t forget to mention your name – otherwise students will not be able to find you on the elections system. It can be helpful to give out business cards, leaflets or something else that has your name on it, so students can easily remember your name.
• Be consistent with your elections design across different platforms – for example, you can select a specific colour or use the same fonts across all your materials (online and printed materials) to ensure students recognise your campaign.
• Ask your lecturers for permission to do a lecture shout-out.
• Don’t take it personally if someone ignores you or don’t want to hear about your ideas.

Campaigning on campus can give you instant access to lots of students, and that's also true for social media, so we recommend you use a mix of on-campus and social media campaigning to reach as many students as possible.

We’ve collated some ideas to get you started, but we also encourage you to think creatively and come up with innovative campaign ideas!

Here are our top tips for online campaigning:

• Use different social media platforms to reach different students. Not all students use the same platforms, so don’t rely on one social media platform to get your message out.
• Create a coherent brand that is easy to recognise across different platforms. You can consider things like your font, colours, slogan etc. If your campaign has a clear brand, it will make you stand out, and students will recognise your campaign across different platforms.
• Give students an opportunity to interact with your campaign. Organise a virtual drop-in session or do a quick poll to gather ideas.

The Students’ Union will be promoting the elections on our website and social media, and we’re working with schools and teams within the University to get them to help with the promotion. Remember that the Students' Union is completely neutral, so we'll be promoting Elections in general and encouraging students to vote, but it's your job to convince students to vote for you. You may also be contacted by Student Media. It is completely optional for you to engage with schools, Student Media and the Students’ Union’s promotion initiatives, but we encourage you to make the most of these opportunities.

Take the opportunities that are made available to you. In the interest of fairness, the same opportunities must be made available to all candidates that run for the same position. If you’re lucky, other candidates for your position are proactively seeking out opportunities, so you may get some unexpected opportunities that way.

All candidates have a budget of £100, apart from Student Trustee candidates, who have a budget of £50. The budget is a cap – you cannot spend any more than this, even if you are willing to pay more out of your own money. The Students’ Union will reimburse a proportion of the money that you spend on your campaign – this is normally around 50% of your total spending, however it depends on how many candidates there are in total. For example, if you spent £88, you will normally be able to claim £44 back from the Students’ Union.

If you are part of a slate, your budget will be reduced for each additional candidate. You can use the tables below to calculate your budget.

This is the table for those with the £50 budget:

Number of candidates	Maximum budget
1	£50
2	£75
3	£87.50
4+	An additional £12.50 per candidate

This is the table for those with the £100 budget:

Number of candidates	Maximum budget
1	£100
2	£150
3	£175
4+	An additional £25 per candidate

You must keep all your receipts and keep a log of all your expenditure. To be reimbursed, you will need to submit an Expense Claim Form with your bank details along with the receipts for any purchases you would like to be reimbursed for. Candidates who are elected will also be required to submit an Expenditure Form to show that they have not exceeded the maximum budget.

If you plan to use any items that you already own when campaigning, you will need to value them using a minimum value list available from su-elections@qmul.ac.uk. Items you already own cannot be reimbursed. If you purchased an item outside the UK, you will need to find a quote from a UK supplier showing what the value would be if it was purchased in the UK. If you are unsure of how to value an item, you can contact us at su-elections@qmul.ac.uk.

Download expense claim form Download expenditure form

When you run in an election, you’re putting yourself and your ideas in the spotlight, and it is to be expected that some students will disagree with you. While political debates are encouraged, we do not tolerate abuse or harassment, so if you feel someone is being abusive toward or harassing you (or your campaign supporters), we encourage you to seek support and guidance from the Elections Team (email us on su-elections@qmul.ac.uk). In some cases, there may be grounds for a complaint to the Deputy Returning Officer or the University, and we can guide you through these processes.

If you wish to make a complaint, it is important that you can present evidence of your claims. The type of evidence will depend on the situation, but you could, for example, take screenshots or photos. Even if you do not have any evidence, our team is here to support you, so don’t hesitate to reach out for support if something has happened!

Complaints can be made by emailing a completed complaints form to su-elections@qmul.ac.uk. To ensure that complaints can be investigated in a timely manner, we ask you to submit your complaint as soon as possible after the incident has happened. Complaints about campaigning must be submitted no later than 5pm on Thursday 27 February (an hour after the voting period has ended). Complaints about the elections count must be submitted within 24 hours of the declaration of results. Late complaints will not be accepted.

Download complaints form