Students have voted to give more coverage to The Gryphon’s editorial candidates after a campus referendum this week.

A majority 1,232 ‘yes’ votes means that students running to become Editor-in-Chief will be entitled to equal coverage with Exec candidates in the Leadership Race.

Over 1,500 votes were cast in the referendum to ask, ‘Should The Gryphon editor be given the same coverage as other leadership candidates again?’

The Gryphon’s ‘Fairer LUU’ campaign was launched after editorial candidates were sidelined in this year’s Leadership Race for a second year running.

The Union removed editorial candidates from Lead LUU promotional material without consulting the newspaper or the student body in the Leadership Race in 2014. The number of students voting to elect the Editor dropped to 1,600 from 8,800 the previous year.

In an open letter last week, Editor-in-Chief of this newspaper Jasmine Andersson criticised the decision as ‘devastating’.

She explained, ‘LUU prides itself on being a democratic platform which allows its students’ voices to be heard. When the paper’s own democracy is threatened, LUU’s reputation comes into question’.

Some students told this newspaper that they struggled to vote for Editor candidates Ben Cook and Ste Topping after a link on the LUU website was featured after the main page for Exec campaigns.

Others reported that they did not know they could vote for The Gryphon Editor in the Leadership Race.

Speaking after the result, The Gryphon Editor Jasmine Andersson said, ‘I am overjoyed to hear that the student body has spoken out in support of an election procedure that ensures that the freedom of the press is protected right here on our campus’.

The referendum’s ‘No’ campaign attracted 316 votes.

Charlotte Mason

Image courtesy of Leeds University Union