by Emma Langman, FreshReporter

After a hard-fought month of election campaigning, the new EUSA (Edinburgh University Student Association) committee has finally been elected. On Tuesday, a Presidential Style debate was held in Teviot Debating Hall, where each candidate was questioned as to their policies. While some came across better than others, everyone fought their side well. There was then some last minute leafleting and publicity before voting took place over Wednesday and Thursday.
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by Emma Langman, FreshReporter

This Sunday’s programme will feature a special focus on the forthcoming EUSA presidential elections.

With campaigning gaining momentum, the candidates have publicised their main policies, outlining the changes and improvements they aim to make, if successfully in elected EUSA President.
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by Anna Fenton, Deputy Head of News

Iain Macwhirter has been elected as the University of Edinburgh’s 50th Rector.

The Herald and Sunday Herald columnist took 69 per cent of the vote in the Rectorial Election, conclusively beating off a challenge from the MSP George Foulkes. 7,004 people voted, with Macwhirter taking 4,822 votes.

An Edinburgh postgraduate, Macwhirter is the 50th rector of the university, filling a position previously held by Prime Ministers Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George, Stanley Baldwin and Gordon Brown. The election marks 150 years since William Gladstone first took up the post as rector at the university.

Iain Macwhirter

At the outset of the contest, Celebrity Big Brother contestant and Respect MP George Galloway cut a controversial figure in the election, inciting a backlash of Facebook groups, including “’George Galloway for Rector’ THIS MAN IS A DISGRACE!”. He withdrew early on in the proceeding, citing a lack of time to commit to the position as the reason. In his retiring statement, he asked his supporters to lend their support to Macwhirter.

In his acceptance speech, Macwhirter said: “I am delighted that the students and staff of the University of Edinburgh have chosen me to be their Rector. I am extremely excited to have this opportunity to take an active involvement in the University and look to ensure the interests of both staff and students are maintained. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank George Foulkes for running an excellent campaign and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.” Read More

by News Team members Emma Langman and Kat Maclean. Their audio package based on the following article will feature in the live show on Sunday 15th of February, between 12 and 1pm.

On February 10th 2007, Barack Obama announced that he would be running for presidency in the 2008 American election. From the very beginning, this election promised to be out of the ordinary; not only was Obama the first African American to stand for candidacy but Hillary Clinton, his democratic rival, was aiming to become the first female nominee for presidency. As soon as the campaigning began, America, not to mention the rest of the world, was gripped in election frenzy. Read More