WHAT IS A MANIFESTOA Manifesto is the statement you write which explains to students:

Who you are Your experience What you believe What you want to change Your ideas

Ultimately, it explains why they should vote for you and what will you do if elected.

For the Election, you have to produce a single side of A4 in a word doc format, which will be uploaded to our website so that students can read it before making their choice of who to vote for.

WRITING YOUR MANIFESTOA. WHY YOU ARE STANDING

Before you start writing, have a think about:

• What has driven you to run?• What are you passionate about?• What is it that you want to change?• Has there been something you’ve experienced as a student that you want to

improve for students?• What do you want to achieve?

It’s important to reflect on these points, as this will help you with formulating ideas for things you want to focus on.

B. YOUR EXPERIENCEThe Elections are open to all City students, and your manifesto is a great way to tell students about all the things you’ve been involved with. Normally this is seen as an introduction to your manifesto, and can be an explanation of who you are and what you stand for.

You do not have to have any experience to run in the elections – just a passion for change, but this is an excellent opportunity to share what you’ve been involved with.

Some top tips for this are:

Keep it short and sweet – a few sentences/bullet points. Include relevant experience – societies; volunteering; programme reps;

campaigns started or part of; any positions held where you’ve represented students.

C. WHAT YOU BELIEVE INIn addition to talking about who you are and what you want to do, you can also include what you believe so people can understand you better.

It helps people to understand what you think the Union is and how you will work with or aim to improve it. A lot of students may not be aware what the Union is or does, so this is your way of selling it to them. This can be a short snappy sentence, or slightly longer.

Examples:

D. YOUR IDEASThere are a number of things you should consider, when planning your ideas:

• How can you make your ideas relevant to all students?

E.g. Undergraduates, Postgraduates, International Students, Part-Time, Distance Learners and the 5 Schools.

• How will you change things? • What solutions do you offer?

Here are two examples of how you can display experience:

On the left, Hajera gives a small introduction and has a separate section for experience.

Above, Aman lists his achievements underneath the position he is running for.

• Research your points to see that you can deliver them

As an Officer, Full or Part-Time, you can have a real impact. Therefore, promise things you can achieve, and that will improve things for students. But don’t be afraid to dream big.If you want to try and get an idea of what students at City want, beyond the students that you know, then we strongly advise that you put yourself out there and talk to them and/or the current Officers in those positions.

It is recommended you put no more than 5 main points, as this will be more memorable for students.

E. THE LOOK OF THE MANIFESTOThe content of your manifesto is extremely important, because is what students will be reading about you, but we also recommend that you have a go at making it look professional.

Don’t worry if Photoshop or design is not your forte, there are plenty of online resources and templates available on word itself that will enable you to lay out your ideas in a design way.

It’s good to try and have a colourful manifesto that can express your key points and also double up as a poster (saving you time!).

In these examples, you will see that they contain a small amount of strong ideas (up to 6), a photo of the person and a small

statement / pun.

F. TOP TIPSThe Limit is 1 Side of A4, so you want to make it count!

• Be concise • Be realistic with pledges• Use colours • Be accessible • Be relevant – people react better to things that they can relate to• Engagement – some students may not know what the Union is or why they

should vote, so ensure to make sure they can understand what it is, what you’re promising and issues you want to tackle.

Resourceswww.canva.comwww.befunky.comhttps://vectr.com/

BUILD YOUR OWN MANIFESTOWHO ARE YOU

YOUR EXPERIENCE

YOUR BELIEFS

YOUR IDEAS1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

HOW STUDENTS CAN VOTE FOR YOUInclude that students can vote for you online (and include the dates of when!) at www.citystudents.co.uk/elections