The first thing that I would like to do is to thank several people who have been supporting me all the way through:

• Holly

• Claire

• Zoe

• Joey

• Steve

These guys have given me amazing support. I’m really proud of them and it meant a hell of a lot to me when Zoe and Joey turned up to help me campaign, when I didn’t even ask them to.

Next, I’d like to thank those that were so supportive last night, the majority of them will probably never read this, but I have already thanked them in person:

• Charlotte

• Ruth (what you said to me last night meant a lot and I respect you so much for saying it)

• Hannah (You deserved it more than anybody)

• Gemma (you didn’t need it, but you look fabulous)

• Jess (sorry that my voice wasn’t up to scratch)

• Alan (well done)

• Heather (well done)

• Jenny

• Matt (Pingu)

If I have missed anybody, I’m sorry…..there was so much happening last night that it was all a bit of a blur.

I would next like to say a very big thank you to my friends and the sabbatical officers of the union, Alex, Hannah, Tracey and Steph. They have always supported me and throughout the elections have still remained my friends. Alex, if you do read this, please do not give up hope…..my quote of the week for you is “The trouble with democracy is that every silly bugger gets a vote”.

Anyway, enough of the Oscars speech!! On to the philisophical crap!!

I have been thinking about my loss over night. I can honestly say that it was a suprise, but I am quite happy at the same time. I can look back and say that I gave 110%. I was out of my house everyday at 08:00 and everyday I was getting back in past midnight, one night not until nearly 03:00 in the morning. I have encountered bad feeling, I have been told that I was not being voted for because of my religion and I have been told that I should not try and get votes in certain places that were thought of as ‘home ground’ by supporters of my opponent. I have been there in support of friends that were also running, asking the people that were campaigning for me to campaign for them instead. I have been the candidate that has been at every event, every ballot and has been outside canvassing in all weather without complaint. In my head I have still won, I know that I have not officially, but even my opponent was shocked.

I’ll still be there, I’ll be on Union council ensuring that the elected officials keep to their mandated promises that were in their manifestos, I may stand for a position on the E&D committee and I will definately still be heavily involved in Student Representation.

I keep going, nothing stands in my way. Today is a new day and the start of my campaign to run for president next year.

Keep smilling,

Martyn

Well, I thought that it went pretty good. I think that my speech was well received and that I answered the questions really well.

You can view the transcript of my speech on my election website.

So now we are entering into the final phase of the elections, with voting starting this week and results being announced on Thursday night, it all seems so surreal.

For me, the most exciting point so far has been the amount of activity happening on the Students’ Union forum. Where there has been a lot of debate and many questions asked.

I’m very tired today as I was in work at 07:30 this morning and then went out and flyered/postered all the Halls of Residence, bar Castle Irwell – that equates to about 1650 students who were targetted today. I hope that it pays off!!

Anyway, as a quick update, I have also added the voting timetable to my website, so check it out and get down to vote.

Martyn.

Well, today was the first of two hustings. For those that are unsure, hustings is an event where political campaign speeches are made. Each candidate is given 3 minutes to make a speech and then can field up to 3 questions from the floor and/or the current executive.

I really enjoyed this event. I was given the opportunity to explain why I wanted to be voted and what I would do in the role of Welfare & Education Officer. I’m proud of myself and I think I did really well. That’s the kind of feedback that I got from other people at the event, anyway.

The other bit of good news is that my competitor for the position did not turn up, not did he submit a speech to be read. In fact, nobody knows where he was. Hopefully this will benefit me and my campaign. I like to think that this role needs somebody who is dedicated and hard working, and todays events surely proved that I am just that!!

Well, the next hustings event is tomorrow night (Thursday) at 7pm. It’s at the Students’ Union entertainment venue, the Pavilion. This is probably the most important out of the two, as you are talking directly to the people that go to events put on by the Students’ Union.

I have to say that I am really really looking forward to it!!!

After tomorrow’s event, I will put the text of my speech up on my website www.m-redstone.co.uk for the benefit of those that could not attend either hustings.

So, for now I shall leave you with a soundbite from today:

“Union means to unite”

- well done Hannah (president candidate) for coming up with that one, that is probably the best line in regards to the Students’ Union that I have ever heard.

So, we got some great positioning around the place, library windows, canteens (maxwell and chapman) and University House to name a few places.

Unfortunately, at some point this morning all of the posters on the windows of the library coffee room were cleaned of posters, never to be seen again. Okay, that hasn’t really stopped me as I have put some more up. The library staff have said it wasn’t them.

This has also happened in the Maxwell cafeteria, where I have had some posters taken down.

I suppose it’s all part of the race for positions really. The more I want this position, the more I shall run around the Uni like a loon putting posters up everywhere.

The posters have gone up, the manifestos are being distributed and the good word is being passed around.

For those that would like some more information, you can have a look at my campaign website at www.m-redstone.co.uk.

I’ve had to stop all comments on this blog as I was getting far too much spam comments happening. Sorry, if it causes any inconvenience.

Well, the next week will be full of running around, talking to people…..explaining my policies and pledges. There’s hustings on Wednesday (12:30 in Maxwell Building) and Thursday (19:00 in the Pav). So I’m getting ready for these and starting to jot down some ideas.

I’m already knackered and there’s still 10 days until close of elections and announcement of results.

IT’S GETTING EXCITING!!!!!!!!!

I’m quite excited and have been planning out some of my campaign for the upcoming elections. I’ve got a secret weapon and I think that it’s going to be a crowd pleaser!!

Whatever happens, I’m going to try my hardest as I know that I can make a difference in this role.

I also found out today that after only three weeks as a journalist for Student Direct (the free weekly student paper for the Universiuty of Salford) three (yes, THREE) of my articles have been printed. The first is the front page article, another is an article within the centre page spread (a special theme for it this week) and another article within the paper, which was the only article that I was commissioned to write originaly. I’ve had pleasing feedback from my first article, with several people saying how good it was. Somebody even asked if I had considered taking up journalism.  The answer, suprisingly, is no!!

The next update will be tomorrow when I find out just who is running against me in the elections. Ooooooo I can’t wait!!

So, where to start?

Well, okay, there have been a fair few things happening in my life recently, so I’ll try and get them all down in a concise manner.

I got a job!! I know, I’m a student and don’t know the meaning of hard work, but I was getting quite depressed about not having a job and being skint. I’m working for Reed Health Ltd, part of the Reed Employment Group. Basically, I spend about 16 hours over the weekend working on their On-Call Team, ensuring that shifts are filled by candidates etc etc etc. It all sounds very boring and is far too long winded to explain properly. Let’s just say that I’m enjoying it, I work with some great people and it all seems rather easy at the minute. I’ve settled in well, I think.

Exams next!! I had three exams over a two week period. I started with Requirements Engineering, which I have to say has been one of the most terribly taught modules that I have taken so far. As my uncle Richard put it “Those that can, do……those that can’t, teach”. How very appropriate in this case. Next came Human Computer Interaction. I have found this module interesting and had to do well in the exam as my assignment wasn’t really that good (it was programming, need I say more) and I revised hard for it. Unfortunately it was on a Friday morning and my housemates have a lovely habit of going out on Thursday nights. On this occasion I was kept up for many hours and did the exam on about 3 hours sleep, which didn’t really help me that much, infact I’d go so far as to say that it caused a hinderence, but hey….I’m not here to make excuses for bad performance. The final exam was Operating Systems Management. This has been a good module with a great teacher and I hope that (after all the effort that I’ve put in) I’ve passed this one.

We have a new housemate!! Her name is Anna and she is from Poland. She’s a very friendly girl and speaks suprisingly good English. Myself and a couple of other housemates have been helping her settle in. We’ve been showing her around, helping her get used to life in England. It’s lovely to get a new housemate that is so friendly. The last international student that we had was not a sociable person at all.

I had my first article published in Student Direct (the newspaper for students at Salford University). It was a report into the recent report into Equality and Diversity at the University. You can read it online, by clicking on the following link:

Equality and Diversity: University Scrutinised

It’s a .pdf file, so you may need Acrobat Reader, which is available here

Lastly, the elections for Salford Students’ Union have started. Nominations opened this week and I’m very excited. Yes, I am running for two position. The first is the Welfare & Education Officer, this is a full time sabatical position on the Executive Committee. I’m also standing for a position on the delegation from Salford to the NUS Annual Conference. I was on this delegation last year and thoroughly enjoyed myself, so I hope I get to do this again. In all fairness I hope that I get voted into both positions. I feel that I would do a bloody good job in both. Any way, if it interests you, you can view my poster and my manifesto at the following links.

My Poster
My Manifesto

I’ll probably be converting this site into a campaign site for the duration of the elections, but my blog will still be accessible. I’m unsure exactly how everything is going to be, but I will keep you all updated.

So for now……peace out!!

Martyn