With a massive majority Matt Windsor is the new Vice-President (Finance, Events, Democracy and Societies), with 762 votes separating him and his closest competitor, Myles Harrison.
When asked why he thought that he came out on top, Windsor replied: “I don’t think the other competitors put in as much effort as I did … I think if they had put more effort in they would have been elected or there would have been a higher vote count.”
The first thing Windsor wants to accomplish in his new role is the re-structuring of JCR Executives.
He commented that he wanted a “complete review of JCR’s, [and] all their constitutions from scratch … I think a lot of JCR’s have been neglected over the past couple of years [by] LUSU and they should be at the forefront.”
Over the gruelling two-week campaign period Windsor has been able to reflect on his policies and has realised that his idea of themed elections has faced resistance.
“I think themed elections was the most contentious issue. Originally I thought [that] we could do a theme across campus. I then realised that it would to an extent trivialise the elections. Yet on the one hand how many people do you expect to engage from them wanting to and how many through the superficial?”
In a rather slurred acceptance speech Windsor alluded to the contentious issue surrounding the corruption of e-voting in Graduate College by saying: “these elections are a sham.”
After an exhausting two-week campaign he felt that it was unfair for the candidates running for VP (EWD) and VP (Academic Affairs) to have to continue.
He said: “If I was asked to run in a by-election, I would seriously consider dropping out because I view my degree as more important … I don’t think it is fair to make them campaign for another full week because it places so much stress on you.”
As part of the FEDS remit, organisation of next year’s Full Time Executive Officer elections will be Windsor’s responsibility. He intends to publicise the role more and smooth out problems that have occurred this year.
Through his experience as a candidate for VP (FEDS), Windsor has started to raise questions about the length of campaign period and the affect on those involved.
He said “I think people get bored. I think it would be a lot easier to organise the whole thing in one week rather than two.”
Windsor wants to build on what current VP (FEDS), Andy Johnston has achieved, jokingly saying he would “not leave AJ’s side” to prepare him for the challenges ahead.
Johnston said that he was “delighted for [Windsor]. I’ve worked with him for a good six or seven months and he really cares. He did his research for the campaign and he learned a lot of things that he didn’t know before … He’s going to be excellent.”
