Over the past years, the Edinburgh University Student Association (EUSA) election engagement has been infamously low. In 2019 there was a record low of 5 per cent, meaning approximately 2,000 out of the eligible 40,000 students voted. Despite attempts to increase interest, with incentives such as free hot drinks being offered, in 2024, the voter turnout target of 10 per cent set by the EUSA president at the time was missed and only 9 per cent of students voted.
This year, something changed. 6,950 students voted, meaning the number of voters increased by 51 per cent compared to last year. Apart from that, the elections, particularly for the role of VP Community, were mired in controversy.
On 7 March 2025, EUSA announced their new sabbatical officers, while also including that the Vice President (VP) Community role had been delayed due to an investigation into a potential breach of campaigning regulations. Three candidates, Akrit Ghimire, Dhruv Gupta, and Robyn Woof ran for the role and following the delay in results, several students speculated that this was to do with a dispute Robyn Woof had been involved in in the preceding days.
Robyn Woof based much of her campaign on support for Palestine and calls for divestment. However, a later post on her Instagram on anti-semitism and Zionism generated outrage.
Regarding Robyn Woof’s discussion of anti-semitism on campus, several students criticised some of Robyn Woof’s statements in which she described Zionists as “misguided and not evil”, explained having “friends and past lovers who are Zionists,” and denounced calls “for Jews born in Israel to leave,” generating outrage and leading to societies such as the Edinburgh University Justice for Palestine Society (EUJPS) withdrawing their endorsement.
When contacted by The Student, EUJPS stated: “We have nothing to say about Robyn Woof nor the elections beyond the statement we posted on Instagram. Our interest in the elections was limited to what each candidate was doing to stand up for our cause. We will continue to hold all the representatives accountable to their word.”
Other societies and candidates proceeded to share EUJPS’ call to vote for Reopening Nominations (RON) over Robyn Woof, including now-elected EUSA president, Ash Scholz.
Speaking to The Student, Robyn Woof stated “I am so disappointed that many people I have known and respected for years were silent on this. I would rather speak the truth and stand by my principles than ignore antisemitism to get votes.”
However, on 14 March VP Community candidate Dhruv Gupta released a statement on his Instagram revealing that he had in fact been the candidate being investigated for campaign violations. He explained: “EUSA has chosen to disqualify me from the VP Community race over an allegation that I somehow ‘took someone’s phone and voted for myself.’ Out of roughly 4000 voters, 3 people sitting at one table (unknown) have decided to complain against me.”
Commenting on the investigation, Robyn Woof stated “I think the disqualified candidate ran an excellent campaign and had great policies and was treated unfairly by both the complainant and EUSA.” EUSA did not respond to a request for comment.
On 14 March, it was announced that Akrit Ghimire will be the new Vice President Community for academic year 25/26. His biggest goals are to make university food cheaper, to celebrate diversity on the campus and in the curriculum, and to improve student lives off campus.
With the campaigns being run very similarly to years before, and EUSA making no changes in the roles that were being elected, many students have been left wondering why this year has been so different. While no clear reasons can be identified, the candidates’ manifestos reflect a clear discontent with current university life. Many of the winning candidates’ manifestos centred on divestment, transparency, and reform. Vice President of Education, Kat Amott, describes herself as “Peter Mathieson hater” in her Instagram bio. Against the backdrop of budget cuts and some of the lowest rates of student satisfaction that the university has seen in years, perhaps the disaffection is hardly surprising. However, it remains to be seen whether the unprecedented level of attention this year’s election has seen will continue into the future.
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash