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I’m Sam and I’m standing to be your Leeds Labour Society Treasurer.

I have been a member of the Labour Party since 2020 but I have been interested in politics since the day my school was closed as Nick Clegg’s adjoining constituency office was bricked by angry university students in 2011. I have lived and grown up in some of the most contrasting socio-economic communities in the UK, this has shaped who I am and why I am a member of the Labour Party.

The first house I lived in was a drug den on the outskirts of Liverpool. The two areas in Sheffield I grew up in had a gap in life expectancy of 12 years. Half of the children in east London where my family now lives, live in poverty, whereas Hampshire, where I previously lived and went to secondary school, was the third wealthiest UK county in 2022. I have a keen sense of the unjust distribution of resources and opportunities in our society. I am a member of the Labour Party and standing to be your LLS Treasurer because I wish to play my part, however small, in the change this country needs.

With a general election looming, LLS’s campaigning efforts in Leeds and beyond this year will be more important than ever. As Treasurer I will work diligently to ensure the smooth running of these efforts, for instance, by working hard to secure the speedy reimbursement of travel expenses for regional campaign days. I want to remove the risk of members being out of pocket for an extended period of time during our campaign. Nobody should be excluded from campaigning due to financial circumstances.

In my role as Treasurer, I will be guided by maintaining LLS’s financial integrity and committing to financial transparency in all of the Society’s transactions. I would not take the duty to oversee the society’s finances lightly, as robust, well-managed finances are key to the effectiveness of our work for the Party.

Hi, I’m Rudi Rannabugardie (he/him) and I’m running to be Treasurer of Leeds Labour Students. I’m a first-year politics student with experience in Labour campaigning back home and an eagerness to get more involved with campaigning here in Leeds. Back home, I was a part of the student investor challenge, which saw my team successfully gain a place in the national final, placing our group of 5 in the top 7 teams out of a total of 6,000. We had to complete tasks such as advising people on how they should best allocate their money – I feel this strongly positions me to be able to ensure funding from the University is received and spent in the most efficient way possible.

As Treasurer, I will ensure that I work constructively and productively with the committee and the university to make sure all expenses are paid back with speed so that we can have the best events possible for our members and our party. I will also ensure no member of the society feels left behind financially and that opportunities are open for all. I will be transparent to all members and make sure I run the financial processes with integrity.

Additionally, I will help keep Leeds Labour Students the fantastic campaigning force it is. Even though I’ve only been a student here for a few weeks, I’ve thrown myself into campaigning for Labour here in Leeds. I was a part of Cllr Emma Flint’s campaign launch for the seat of Leeds North West, and I’ve really enjoyed the socials I’ve been to so far as well as meeting so many new people. With local elections in May, and a general election looming at some point in the next year, we need to bring in as many students as possible into our society and party so that we can keep our feet on the ground and hold back the Tories, Lib Dems, and Greens. In order to continue making these gains, we need to remain the strongest ground force in party politics here in Leeds, and I believe I am the candidate with the best ability to make sure our funds go to the right areas and to the right events.