Who will be our new Rector?

It will hopefully come as no surprise to most of the students in this town, but elections for our new Rector open next week, and the campaigns are well underway.

We've compiled a fact-sheet about each of the candidates to make your choice as to who to vote for, that little bit easier.

Willie Rennie:

Willie Rennie, the current leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, and has been involved in politics since 1990, and an MSP since 2006. In May 2016 he was re-elected as the MP for North- East Fife, and has also worked as Press Officer for Fife Council. In addition to this, he was born in Fife and thus knows the area better than almost anyone.

He pledges in his manifesto, to be a present force in the University of St. Andrews, stand up for students in not only the Scottish Parliament, but also Westminster itself. He also vows to build upon relations between us students and the members of the community itself.

It seems a vital part of his manifesto is to improve overall well-being for the students. Whether that be affordable housing (he's pledging to sort out the HMO ban) or improvements to mental-health provisions, Rennie want's to improve the student experience at our university.

Find a link to his manifesto here:

Srdja Popovic:

Srdja Popovic was a Serbian political activist and head of the Serbian student led movement called Optor!, which played a key role in the toppling of Serbian dictator in 1999-2000. He then went on to co-found the organisation CANVAS (Centre for Applied Non-Violent Actions and Strategies). He has also been involved in a number of other charitable and teaching based campaigns, and is now turning his obviously very capable political mind to bettering the lives of students in St. Andrews.

The main basis for Srdja's manifesto is that of improvement to student housing, increase transport links to St. Andrews, including the introduction of a rail link to the town and reduce the number of cars in order to reduce the town's carbon emissions and to use his extensive diplomatic knowledge to instil the values of equality and inclusion into student's in St. Andrews.

Remaining international is also something that is a priority for Srdja's campaign. He wants to ensure St. Andrew's remains open to international students, who make up such a valuable part of life here and want's to lobby to ensure the safeguarding of the ERASMUS programme.

Find a link to his manifesto here:

See also Srdja discussing his ideas here: