After months of preparation, a hectic week and a half of campaigning, many free cookies given out, and over 6000 unique voters, the 2026 LSU elections are over. The students of Loughborough have chosen the five students they wish to lead the Student Union in the coming year, but who are they, and how do they plan to improve student life?
President – Kieran Oliver
The role of SU President was fought for between Sade Bello and Kieran Oliver, with the latter coming out on top, amassing an eye-watering 3,212 votes. The HSF Chair managed to achieve the highest vote count in many years, but what does he plan to do to improve our SU?
Kieran focuses on his three E’s: Engagement – getting more people involved and promoting student volunteers, Experience – delivering a great student experience whilst rewarding and recognising students, and Efficiency – increasing communication between departments and communities. He also wishes to introduce new projects, such as a JCs reward scheme, as well as increasing transparency and accessibility, with monthly updates from himself.
Academic Experience Executive Officer – Emily Hall
This role was competed for by Zahra Hauchlef, Jonathan Watkinson, and Emily Hall, and was one of the tightest battles fought, with Emily Hall edging out second-place Watkinson by 99 votes, claiming 1,972 votes in total. The DCF vice president will be no stranger to academic matters, but what plans does she have in store for the future of our SU?
Emily’s first point focuses on decolonising the curriculum, arguing that our current curriculum is too “white-centred”, and wishes to change it to include all genders, races, and sexualities. Secondly, she looks to standardise support systems for academic committees, arguing that chairs of such committees have insufficient support or have not been made sufficiently aware of such. Lastly, she wishes to strengthen the community aspect of academics, turning the academic side of university into a fun side of university, two sides which she argues are often diametrically opposed.
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Executive Officer – Rana Oz
This was one of the most hotly contested roles, being contended for by 5 candidates – Jessica Kemp, Hannah Eke, Tanishka Nahar, Andrew Dallas, and Rana Oz, with Rana claiming victory by a margin of 350 votes over second-place Dallas, 1,617 in total. Having had previous experience on the Royce Committee as Action representative, Rana is well-known around our SU – but what are her plans for the upcoming academic year?
Rana’s manifesto has three main focuses, the first of which is building on existing support by improving signposting and practical informational packs for international and disabled students. She also wishes to rebuild the welfare and diversity representative community, with more extensive training and stronger connections across halls, networks, and associations. Her final point focuses on strengthening student voice in education by bringing EDI into academic decisions, support, and digital learning.
Student Communities Executive Officer – Lucy Palmer
From a hotly contested role to an unopposed one, Lucy Palmer won re-election to the role of Student Communities Executive Officer, garnering 3,160 votes. Having already served a very successful year in the role, what does she plan to do to keep the ball rolling and keep bringing improvements to our SU?
Building on her previous work, her first focus is leadership, ensuring that student leaders are sufficiently supported in their work and understand the rules and regulations around such. Secondly, she plans to increase her work on understanding the issues that students face and helping students with said issues. Thirdly and finally, she wishes to increase collaboration between sections, as when connections are formed between communities, they can thrive and operate to the best of their ability.
Sport Executive Officer – Annabel Lloyd
If you thought EDI was hotly contested, the role of Sport Executive Officer was battled for by an astounding 8 candidates – Cam Leighton, Dovydas Kiselis, Erin Barnett, Hamish Ryan, Lolly Roberts-Biggs, Joe Chinnock, Keran Ekeuh, and Annabel Lloyd. Claiming the victory with a count of 1,652 votes, how does Annabel Lloyd plan to improve the sporting experience at Loughborough?
Annabel acknowledges her main goals are more long-term, multi-year projects that she wishes to get the ball rolling on, the first of which is a change in kit supplier away from Kukri, claiming that the women’s kits are subpar. The second long-term project would be the development of a top-end recovery suite at Loughborough University, with facilities such as saunas and ice baths to assist with athletes’ recovery. In the short term, she wishes to further develop a “schools and department” league, raising it to a similar level to IMS, for students who wish to compete in something similar after leaving halls.
