There are two types of elections in accordance with the Union's constitution, both of which are run online by the Student Experience Team to ensure they are fair and accessible for all those who wish to take part. Elections are mandatory for student groups who wish to be affiliated with the Students' Union.

Bulk Elections

The first type of election is the bulk election that all student groups are involved with. This is to elect a committee for the new academic year and allow for an overlap period with the new and old committee for training and handovers. Newly elected committees will gain access as a committee member from 9th June, and officially take over on August 1st. Current Committees will still have access to committee resources and emails until 31st July. This will allow both the old and new committee to work together on re-affiliation and allow for a handover period. 

To find out more, you can download the Annual Committee Elections Handbook if you scroll to the bottom of the page.

These elections happen around March/April in order to leave a couple of months for the old committee to hand over and 'train up' the new committee. All clubs and societies are automatically entered and participation is mandatory for all groups.

Annual Club and Society Elections Handbook

By-Elections

The other type of election for clubs and societies is a by-election. If a student group wants to make changes to their committee, including adding new positions or replacing someone if a student has resigned from their role, then the existing committee is required to run a by-election.

You must request these by emailing us at su.activities@keele.ac.uk, we will then set these up for you during the by-election periods. These are held in October and February.

No committee member is guaranteed a committee position in the following year, so all positions must be open for election. Every position is open for any student member to nominate themselves for, regardless of their year of study, whether they were on the committee the year before, or if they are new to the club or society.

No. Clubs and Societies are not authorized to run their own elections, and we will not recognize any committee member not democratically elected through the Keele SU election process.

Just like the wider Students’ Union, clubs and societies are student-led. This means that only current students are eligible to run for a position or vote in the election. Furthermore, a student must be a member of a club or society in order to take part. As long as this criterion is met, absolutely anyone can run for a position. It doesn’t matter what year they’re in, what they study, how long they have been part of the club/society, or if they have been on a committee before – everyone is eligible to run and vote.