Lead LUU 2024
Nominations for the Lead LUU 2024 Leadership Programme are open now.
Fill out the form to nominate yourself, nominate a friend, or just learn more.
What is Lead LUU?
Lead LUU is the name of our annual Student Executive leadership race – the biggest opportunity in our series of annual elections here at the Union. It’s one of the largest student elections in the country, and is a major event in the Leeds campus calendar.
In short, students are invited to run to join the Student Exec, either as a sabbatical year during their studies, as a placement year, or after they have graduated. The roles are paid, full-time positions, offering a salary of £21,453.00 for the 2024/2025 academic year. Any student, no matter their level or programme of study, is qualified to run.
What does it involve?
Those who put themselves in the running, lead a campaign to convince their fellow students to support and elect them, before the Leeds community votes for the candidates they’d like to represent them for the year. The candidates with the most votes are crowned Lead LUU champions, becoming the next Student Exec team.
What does an officer do?
The Officers work together to lead the Union for a year, deciding its direction, acting as trustees, and representing the voice of over 40,000 students in high-level decision making at the Union and University. They’re the face of the Union, hosting awards ceremonies and representing Leeds students on national TV and radio. They also engage with students through face-to-face chats and events, and through lots of content across our website and social media. From approving new campus buildings to abseiling down existing ones, no two days are the same for LUU’s Student Exec.
Your 2023/2024 Student Exec
Time to get involved
- Nominations open | 27 November
- Nominations close | 6 February
- Exec 1-1 meetings | 22 January – 6 February
- Candidate Academy | 8 – 10 February (required training – attendance is compulsory)
- Training / Creation Week | 12 – 16 February
- Campaigning opens | 7am, 19 February
- Hustings | 19 February
- Voting | 7am, 26 February – 7pm, 29 February
- Results Night | 1 March
Lead LUU values
Lead LUU is all about inclusion, integrity and community – values which we carry through to everything we do. It might be a leadership race, but we’re all about healthy, friendly competition, and a supportive environment for all.
After all, everyone involved in Lead LUU is playing their part to make Leeds a better place to be a student. That’s something to celebrate.
Unfamiliar with any of the political terms on this page? Visit our Elections Glossary.
Listen to the 2021/2022 Equality and Liberation Officer Natasha and Union Affairs and Communications Officer Aysha as they chat all things LUU Exec.
Key dates
Which roles are up for grabs?
- Activities & Opportunities. Here to make sure your social life thrives at Uni – whether that’s getting the right funding for your favourite clubs and societies, tackling the cost of sport, or making sure our co-curricular activities are the best in the country.
- Education. Changes things up for the better so that the University is always providing students with the best academic experience, helping them to get the most out of their degree.
- Wellbeing. Here for your health and happiness at Leeds. They’re focused on making sure students have access to any help and support they might need whilst at University.
- Equality & Liberation. They make sure the Union, University and further afield are accessible and inclusive for everyone. They fight to make your time at Leeds fair.
- International & Postgraduate. Represents our diverse international and postgraduate community, creating opportunities to share cultures and experiences, and ensuring that these groups are fully represented.
- Union Affairs & Communications. This Officer is all about the governance, democracy and finance of the Union. Keeping it up and running, and fair for you, and helping to govern the University to make sure it reflects your views.
You can also go for the Gryphon Editor, who heads up the student newspaper and brings you informative and interesting news about university life.
More info about our Exec can be found here.
You can also see what this year’s Officers get up to over on Instagram at @luuexec.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes you can. If you’re elected, you can speak to your School about taking a year out to serve as an Officer.
Yes, students at any level of study can run in LeadLUU – we even work with Schools across the Uni to make sure they support you in running. You might be particularly interested in the International & Postgraduate role to represent fellow postgraduates, but you’re welcome to run for any of the roles if you’re a PG student.
To be appointed as an Exec Officer you must be eligible to work in the UK. Visit this page for essential information about working as an Exec Officer as an international student. Should you have any questions about your eligibility or the information on this page, please contact StudentVisaAdvice@leeds.ac.uk to speak to a qualified immigration adviser. As an international student you might be particularly interested in the International & Postgraduate role to represent students with similar experiences, but you’re welcome to run for any of the positions.
If you’ve had a read of the above and are still not sure, you can come into the Union to discuss which position would suit you, or chat to the team virtually. Drop us an email at luu.pet@leeds.ac.uk.
Woah there! We love your enthusiasm, but it’s only one position per person.
Nope. Previous Exec members have come from all walks of University life – what unites them is their desire to improve the Leeds student experience. As long as you have great ideas and a passion for creating change, you’ll make a great candidate.
Don’t fret, most people don’t before they actually try it. Your campaign should be personal and reflect you. See a load of tips and resources here. We’ll also be running sessions and sharing tips on how best to communicate with students at Leeds and run your own campaign.
You sure can. Even one hour a week is enough time to run an excellent campaign. We’ll work with you to help you create the best campaign possible with the time you have. We’ve even had Officers be successfully elected who were away on placement during their campaign period. You can always get your friends, housemates and coursemates to help out as your campaign team.
Yes you do – you get £50 to spend on whatever you like, and you can get all of that reimbursed by LUU. We’ll also be supporting you with some campaigning materials and all sorts of training on marketing and digital engagement.
A campaign team is a group of your friends who have committed to helping you campaign. They might talk to students on your behalf, help put up posters, or perhaps assist you with social media.
Don’t worry too much if you haven’t got a huge campaign team. You’ll get lots of support from us in regards to your campaign and tactics to use. The most important thing is that you’re willing to go out and talk to students – that’s the best way to win votes.
We work with the University to encourage schools to provide extensions for students participating in LeadLUU – just chat to us if you have any concerns.
If you win you will spend the next year running the Union and working on projects and campaigns to improve the lives of students. It’s a full-time salaried job, and will give you a great experience for your next steps.
We use a system called single transferable vote. It means voters get a bit more of a say, by ranking candidates from most to least favourable. So if your top pick doesn’t win, there’s a really good chance someone you like will get in and no voting power is wasted. You can read more about the voting system here.
Still got questions? Contact us at luu.pet@leeds.ac.uk
Other opportunities at LUU
Not sure LeadLUU’s for you but still want to get involved in student democracy at Leeds? There are plenty of other elections to get involved with, taking place across the year.
Head to our Elections at LUU page to discover the opportunity for you, or take a look at the timeline below.
