Last year we saw one of the greatest presidential races of all time. Current association president, Pat, beat his close friend and then flatmate, Dave by all of 80 votes. This year the race is unlikely to be as closely run but it is by no means a one-horse race.

Current president Pat Mathewson appears to be the current favourite for winning the upcoming election (student, not general). Having succeeded in the night bus and increasing union funding, it will be a tough task for the other candidates, however not an impossible one. The emphasis for Mathewson will be that of continuity and will address the fact that stability is the key to success.

If Mathewson’s focus will be that of stability, then current Mermaids president Ben Anderson will surely focus on  the mantra of ‘change is better’. Anderson is looking to shake the poison chalice that is the current Mermaids president. Just like Dave before him, Ben will be hoping that his experience as the president of a Union sub-committee will provide valuable knowledge into the inner workings of the Union itself. On paper, Anderson is very highly qualified, as mentioned he is the current Mermaids president and has previously been involved with the SRC. Whether he would be able to deliver on his promises is of course to be seen as time goes on.

Steven Fan initially appeared to be the annual joke candidate. A vote that is one step further than voting for RON, a vote that would appear to be middle finger to student elections. This however is not the case. Fan is a serious candidate and is taking the elections very seriously. While he only recently uploaded a video manifesto online, his points are serious he clearly wants to shake the idea that he is just running for a laugh. The true credibility of Fan will be seen during the upcoming debates and further hustings.

The final candidate does appear to be a joke candidate however. While it will be hard for anybody to really top the attempts of Jamie Ross, Richard Singleton will give it a good go. Singleton wants to address the accommodation issues by creating a ’student construction company’ and also wants to ‘build trees’. He also states that he will not shake Louis Richardson’s hand until all of his tasks are complete. It would also appear that his election photos have been done on snapchat/paint.

As mentioned at the start, it is hugely unlikely that we will see anything as dramatic as the Pat Vs. Dave sage of last year. Mathewson stands for stability and continuity within the union whereas Anderson will look for change. Fan also has a large backing on social media with the most ‘likes’ on his Facebook page, of course social media does not dictate what will happen but he is certainly popular. Singleton’s presence at the minute seems to be small and if he is serious about not being serious, he needs to do more.