With our UJS Presidential elections underway this page has EVERYTHING you need to know! From our candidates to the full timeline for the next few weeks!

Presidential Candidates    Nominations Information      Voting

The timeline for the 2021 election:

Midnight Monday 8th November • Nominations open

Midday Monday 22nd November • Nominations close

Wednesday 24th November • Candidates announcement

Sunday 28th November late afternoon• First Hustings in Birmingham

12pm Monday 29th November • Campaigning and votes open

Monday 6th December evening • Second Hustings in Bristol

12pm Friday 10th December • Campaigning and voting closes

Sunday 12th December • Result announced at UJS Convention

Presidential Candidates:

These are your candidates for UJS President 2022-23! Have a look at their manifestos and campaigns videos below!

Joel Azulay, Queen Mary University London

Hi, my name is Joel Azulay and I’m running to be your UJS president for 2022-23. I’m a final year International Relations student at Queen Mary, and I want to Open Up UJS to improve Jewish student life. Over the past two years as president of QM JSoc, I have fought antisemitism on campus, stood up for Jewish students, and organised events for students across London and the UK. I’m really involved in Jewish communal life, which includes teaching at JFS, working as a madrich for Tribe, and volunteering with US Chesed. I'm running for UJS President because I want to bring Jewish students together, make UJS more accessible, and proactively fight hate on campus.

Click here for Joel's full manifesto, here for plain text version and here for his campaign video!

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Daniel Burns, University of East Anglia

Hi my name is Dan Burns, I'm a third year Politics and International student at UEA and also Jsoc president. I'm from North West London and a member of Kol Nefesh Masorti Synagogue as well as an active member and Madrich at Noam. In future I hope to have a career as a city planner. As someone on the autistic spectrum I believe I bring a different perspective to key issues.

Click here for Daniel's full manifesto, here for plain text version and here for his campaign video!

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Joel Rosen, University of Cambridge

I'm a third-year student at Cambridge, a Leonard Cohen fan and UJS Presidential candidate. I have a track record of standing up when it comes to the issues that matter. I have fought against antisemitism within the Labour movement and have fought for LGBT+ inclusion within the Jewish community. I’ve always used my platform to fight for change. As Cambridge JSoc, I led our successful IHRA definition campaign and wrote a letter to the Guardian on behalf of 95 Jewish student leaders making the case for its adoption. As President of the Cambridge Union, I confronted Jeremy Corbyn over antisemitism within the Labour Party. If elected as the next UJS President, I will tirelessly defend, celebrate and enhance Jewish life on campus. 

Click here for Joel's full manifesto, here for plain text version and here for his campaign video!

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How to be nominated:

Prospective candidates must complete the attached form and email it to our returning officer Liron ([email protected]) by midday on Wednesday 24th November. You will need the nominations of 10 Jewish students from at least 5 different J-Socs. You will also be required to email photos of the student ID cards of each of your nominators.

Your nomination will not be accepted until both the completed form and the photos of university IDs have been received. 

Campaign materials:

Candidates will be required to send the following materials to our returning officer Liron, by midday Wednesday 24th November, for the candidate announcement: 

• A manifesto, which could outline your campaign policies or your experience. The manifesto must be a minimum of 100 words and a maximum of 550. If presented in poster format, a plain text manifesto must also be submitted (both must be in PDF format)
• A video, which could introduce you as a candidate or your campaign. This video must have a maximum length of 30 seconds and include subtitles (a recommended website is https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles)
• A photo, in which your face can be clearly seen (to be used for all promotional material).

For examples of previous material click here

Campaign rules:

General campaigning rules: 

• No campaigning outside of the designated campaigning period  
• No online campaigning on Shabbat 
• No negative campaigning against a candidate or any member of their campaign team – this means deliberately spreading negative information about someone or something to worsen the public image of the described 
• No exceeding campaign budget - £100 + travel to 6 campuses (plus 2 hustings) 
• You are responsible for the words and actions of your campaign team – their rule breaks will be punishable in the same way 
• You must act in accordance with the Code of Conduct at all times  

Endorsement rules: 

• No organisational endorsements (including J-Socs)  
• Only endorsements from current students are allowed 

Potential consequences: 

This is the list of the potential consequences for breaking an election rule. It is at the discretion of the Returning Officer to decide which is an appropriate match for the severity of the rule break. 

• Reminder of the rules 
• Written warning 
• Second warning 
• Final warning 
• 12-hour ban from online campaigning 
• 24-hour ban from online campaigning 
• 72-hour ban from online campaigning 
• Removal of candidacy  

Meetings:

If successful in this nominations process, candidates will be required to attend 2 meetings:

• With the returning officer. This meeting will detail the code of conduct and election rules. It will be held over video call, and candidates are permitted to invite their campaign managers to the meeting too. This will take place at 6pm on 22nd November.

• With the CEO Arieh Miller. Who will meet with each candidate and arrange this meeting around the candidate’s academic commitments. This meeting contains a briefing so that each candidate has the same key information on UJS heading into the election. The meeting will take place at a point between the confirmation of candidacy and the start of voting.

Hustings:

Successfully nominated candidates will be invited to attend and take part in 2 hustings. These will be in person and livestreamed. It is recommended that candidates join in person, however if that is not possible for any reason a digital option will be provided. 

Hustings are open to in person attendance for all members of UJS. 

Questions will be taken from the room and online in the question portion of the hustings. 

The first will be on Sunday 28th November, 5pm in Birmingham

The second will be on Monday 6th December, 7pm in Bristol 

Additional Information:

We would like to remind prospective candidates at this stage that campaigning is not permitted until 12pm on Monday 29th November. Please direct any queries or complaints to the returning officer Liron.

Candidates are reminded that before, during and after this election UJS expects our code of conduct to be followed. Any complaints relating to the election will be dealt with by the returning officer. 

This is an incredibly exciting opportunity and exercise of Jewish students’ democratic rights in their grassroots union. Candidates’ well-being is our priority throughout the election process. Please contact the UJS President or any of the UJS team throughout the election process for impartial welfare support. 

This process has been approved by the returning officer. The election will be held in accordance with the UJS constitution and bye-laws, which can be read here.

Voting:

In order to vote, you will have had to register on the UJS website as soon as possible as voting closes at 12pm on Friday, 10th December. Registered members will receive a voter key via email with a link to vote from Election Buddy - make sure you check all your mailboxes as well as your junk mail. Please contact us if you have any issues. 

Registration for voting closes at 12am on Wednesday 8th.