As you are hopefully aware the Students Union has for the past week been pushing all students to take part in a university-wide referendum vote on the future structure and direction of the Union. We posed the statement/question: “Your Union is evolving. Vote Yes for change. Vote No to stay the same.” We are very pleased that nearly 900 of you voted and we can now announce the results were as follows:

Yes for change: 758 (84%)

No to stay the same: 138 (16%)

And as such the Referendum has passed a Yes vote meaning that the new UCSU Constitution, policy overview and strategic document will be brought into place from July 1^st. What does this mean? It means that the students of the Union have sent a firm message that they want their representative organisation focussing on academic improvement and speaking out on behalf of all members no matter where they are based. The first obvious outcome from the changes are in the positions open in the current elections, more on which below.

Our thanks to everyone who voted and took the time to participate. The Union proposed the changes as we sincerely believe they will enable students to make lasting positive changes to their university experience and we are very pleased that you have agreed to support the proposals.