Do the SU Elections Even Matter?

By Sean Colligan 

Queen’s Student Union’s election polls open in just a week’s time, with thirteen positions up for grabs ranging from the paid positions in the Student Officer cadre, more casual roles like Faculty and School Reps, Student Councillors and Association Chairpersons, but most importantly of all the crème de la crème of student politics—Union President, contested in a demolition derby of eight candidates who are indubitably motivated by a genial sense of public service and common good, armed with the benevolent desire to represent students and fight for their rights. People love to stick it to the man and stick up for the little guy, especially when it comes with £25,551 salary and 42 days’ annual leave [1]. Not to speculate on the motives of our elected representatives, that is, but it does make one wonder whether or not those of our peers who decide to put themselves forward for office are really in it to help tackle the big issues surrounding student life like the cost-of-living crisis, tenant rights, among other things, or are there for less altruistic reasons than they might portray. The more cynical-minded of us may even be inclined to believe the whole thing is just a popularity contest whose winners get to claim a paycheck and a flashier CV. 

This is not to cast doubt on the efficacy of the SU itself, which has been doing its part. It’s launched initiatives like The Pantry discussed in a previous article, lobbied Stormont for cost-of-living mitigations, and has things like SU Advice to offer confidential advice on a range of topics from student finance to health and wellbeing. There’s even SU Enterprise to help nurture the bourgeoisie-in-training who fancy themselves captains of industry à la Peter Jones or Steven Bartlett—we await John D. Rockefeller’s resurrection from the trenches of “What’s The Big Idea?” [2] with bated breath—so it is clear the elections themselves are the issue. The consensus among most students around them is probably something similar to the title of this article: What really is the point of student democracy? Last year’s elections saw a total of 4,780 votes cast in the battle for the Presidency, with winner Amy Smith winning with 2,980 against eight other candidates [3]. This is for a salaried position that is meant to “represent the 25,000+ students at Queen’s and to lead the Union” [4], and its holder has been chosen by just under 12% of them. This is not democratic in the slightest, so why bother with the whole façade in the first place? 

Is the whole thing really just a vanity contest to let people act out their fantasies of Paris, Berkeley and Prague in ’68 while giving the SU an excuse to dress up One Elmwood for a matinee performance of political theatre that nobody really asked for? We all appreciate very much the work the Student Union does—the deli, bar and shop probably among its more lauded works—but the criteria for being a part of its governing body shouldn’t be based on popularity, or for being able to stomach seeing your face lined up in a “Meet Your Candidates” wall of grinning mugshots right in the foyer of the Union. Something like the sortition used to select for jury service would be more representative of the student body and have less of the pretentious spiel and electioneering of the current process, though made voluntary if you were to be selected , considering the hefty commitment any of the roles entail. If the lottery worked for the two hundred years Athens was a democracy, why can’t it work for us? 

Of course, that’s only one idea, and probably one that will never happen, with it much more likely that these elections will continue ad infinitum as our elected officials come and go, some perhaps destined for higher office—after all, the current Deputy First Minister used to be deputy president back in the day [5]—while others no doubt land respectable jobs in part to their reputable portfolios. In respect to the question posed in this article, they can and do if you really want them to. If you’re passionate about student politics and public service, by all means get involved and make a difference, but be under no illusion that a large number of those in the running alongside you are solely in it to make a difference, or to help people, or whatever way they dress it up over social media. They are of the same ilk as the political class in Stormont, but in infancy, and with much derision recently over talks of a £14,000 pay rise for MLAs [6], suffice to say many of us have little interest in playing along with the masquerade. 

References 

1. “Full-Time Student Officer Roles”. Queen’s Students’ Union. https://q-su.org/studentvoice/SUElections/TheRoles/Full-TimeStudentOfficerRoles/#what-to-know-3389609-1 

2. “What’s The Big Idea?”. Queen’s Students’ Union. https://q-su.org/EnterpriseSU/Opportunities/WhatsTheBigIdea/ 

3. “Results Sheet Election: SU Elections 2025 Post”. Queen’s Student’s Union. https://home.q-su.org/pageassets/voice/democracy/suelections/theresults/QSU-SU-Election-2025-Full-Time-Student-Officers-Results.pdf 

4. “SU Elections”. Queen’s Student’s Union. https://q-su.org/studentvoice/SUElections/ 

5. Little-Pengelly, Emma. “Emma Little-Pengelly BL MLA”. LinkedIn. https://uk.linkedin.com/in/emmalittleni 

6. McCormack, Jayne. “Stormont assembly members in line for £14,000 pay rise.” BBC News NI. 19^th February 2026. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clygw95k1llo