UJS Roadshow Election

The start of the election saw a rainy Sunday morning drive to Bristol where sixteen J-Soc members showed up to listen to the candidates' speeches and then grill them. Then followed an interesting evening in Oxford- Parker territory- where fifty-four members showed up. The Oxford event was a relative Parker fest as the iconic green t-shirt of the Parker campaign filled the room. Parker nonchalantly dominated his home patch picking up a whooping 85% of first preferences on that blustery Sunday evening.

Monday afternoon saw three bleary eyed candidates step into the London Euston Hillel centre for what was to see thirty London J-Socers come along to question the candidates on issues such as: their plans for J-Socs in London, engagement with Jewish international students in London and the relationship with external organisations. All the candidates had clearly been studying up on the relevant issues as each displayed clear insight, understanding and experience when tackling the questions from the floor. That evening saw the CUJS in Cambridge play host as the fourth stop on the tour. Fifty-one members turned up to see the candidates battle for the appeal of the masses during a rigorous intellectual battle. Many of the questions revolved around Cambridge specific issues as well as the funding structures between UJS and local J-Socs. However, the most challenging question of the night was who the candidates would like to take on a romantic date! Amusing answers followed.

Day three and the roadshow found its way up the M1 to Junction 25- Nottingham. Despite a timetabling room error the event went well with some fifty students turning up during the afternoon at a busy time of term. Nottingham was a real dog fight with no candidate having a natural base of support there. The speeches were delivered with umph and charm and the audience was left with the tricky decision of who to vote for. The vote breakdown reflects this. Nottingham saw questions raised on the relationship with external organisations, the Hillel student centre program, and what proactive campaigns, if any, would the candidates promote. Tuesday evening saw the roadshow drive into Birmingham to address the biggest to date. One hundred and fifty-three people filled the debating union room to cheer, heckle and question the ever confident candidates. The Paloma fans were out in force as shown by their raucous applause as she started and finished her speech. Paloma clearly enjoyed being back home and gave arguably the best speech of her roadshow much to the delight of her home audience.

Wednesday saw the roadshow swing into Manchester for what quickly became Dwek's moment in the sun. The Manchester event saw the first event without falafel much to the organisers and candidates delight! A fanfare of trumpets to the tune of Hava-Negia were heard from somewhere within the crowds as Dwek made his entrance into the room to address the one hundred and thirty-seven people that came to the election. Manchester saw the only RON of the entire roadshow - much to my horror following my warnings of my receding hairline in my introduction if people were to vote RON and RON had won and we had to redo the election roadshow. The highlight of the entire roadshow for me was an answer to the question 'What is the song of your campaign?- and sing it' by Adam Parker. He sang 'Hinai ma tov' ("How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity") and most of the audience joined in. Magical moment! Dwek's 'Gangsters Paradise' and Paloma's 'Come Fly With Me' (for me) battled for second place.

Leeds was the venue of the last election location with a do or die approach noticeable in all the candidates. Leeds- neutral territory- meant that all the candidates pulled out all the stops. Dwekites, Sackmanites, and Parkerites were out in force as candidates poured their last drops of sweat and energy into the election. Peter Mason acted as a grand trustee in the magnanimous position of Returning Officer. The speeches (which by this time I could repeat verbatim) were strong having been tested seven times before. Leeds asked questions on the plethora of Rabbis based in Leeds, the accountability of the UJS Chair and Tzevet, funding issues, campaigning, and the final question of the entire roadshow election was 'Please demonstrate your policies using the medium of interpretive dance.' Hungry for votes the candidates did dance. I LOL'd.

After the election-proper the audience went back to the swanky Hillel centre where we had a post-election party. During the party Peter Mason commanded the count (in a bunkered room) with all the authority and professionalism of an anorak that has been involved in the past five UJS elections.

As you are no doubt aware of Alex Dwek was elected as the next UJS Chair. It was a terrific election campaign. Three strong and often stoic candidates engaged with some six hundred students to thrash out the important policy issues affecting our union. Questions were raised, opinions were heard and UJS reconnected with the people it aims to deliver for: Jewish students. At the end of the roadshow the union has been left in a strong position going into 2010. Congratulations to all the candidates for the high quality campaigns they run and their conduct throughout the whole process and special mazel to Alex Dwek.