Austen Shakespeare

The final nominations for the 2017 Glasgow University Rector election have been announced. They are as follows;

Aamer Anwar

Dr Leif Azzopardi

Brace Belden

Sir Vince Cable

Lady Cosgrove

Graeme Eddolls

Thomas Hind

John Lindberg

Duncan Logie

Professor Jordan Peterson

Jonathan Tease

Milo Yiannopolous

Aamer Anwar is a Scottish human rights lawyer and alumni of the University. Dr Leif Azzopardi is a senior lecturer in computing and information sciences at Strathclyde University.

Brace Belden is a member of the Kurdish militia fighting to prevent the spread of ISIS. He also has a history of left-wing activism and a former heroin addict.

Sir Vince Cable was the former Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2010 to 2015.

Lady Hazel Cosgrove, a semi-retired judge, was the first female permanent judge on the court of sessions in 1996, and a Glasgow University graduate.

Five recent former students have been nominated. Thomas Hind, Jonathan Tease, John Lindberg, Duncan Logie, and Graeme Eddolls. John Lindberg worked as a policy adviser and researcher to the Scottish Conservative spokesperson on Foreign, European and Environmental Affairs Jamie McGrigor MSP. Duncan Logie is a former Theology and politics student at the University of Glasgow. Graeme Eddolls, coach of the Rifle and Sporting Gun Club.

Professor Jordan Peterson, is a tenured academic at the University of Toronto, and critic of political correctness.

Milo Yiannopolous is former Technology editor for Breitbart and noted polemicist.

Commenting on the recent nominations, Students' Representative Council (SRC) President Ameer Ibrahim said: "We would encourage students to look into who various candidates are, and there will further be the opportunity for individual candidate objectives to be outlined in their campaigns and further at the Rectorial Hustings set to place the week preceding the elections. We would further encourage the wider student body to do their research, and look into candidate campaigns to ensure that votes are extended to those individuals believed to be best placed to take up this role.

"It is very positive to see such high levels of engagement with this election, which can be seen in relation to the large number of candidates put forward. We hope that this will be an engaging election, and that the individual who will be eventually elected is best placed to take forward the views of the student body, and reflect our values as a community to the highest levels within the University and beyond."

The Rectorial hustings will be taking place on the evening of 16 March. The election will follow in the next week from on 20 March from 9am until 4pm on 21 March 2017. It will be conducted electronically and under the single-transferable-vote system.

Each candidate's social media campaign can be found below:

Aamer Anwar

Dr Leif Azzopardi

Brace Belden

Sir Vince Cable

Lady Hazel Cosgrove

Graeme Eddolls

Thomas Hind

Duncan Logie

Professor Jordan Peterson

Milo Yiannopolous

John Lindberg

[Edit: This post is being edited on a rolling basis as candidates' social media campaigns become available. Jonathan Tease's campaign will be added as soon as it comes to our attention.]

[Edit: This post has been edited to reflect incorrect information regarding Dr Leif Azzopardi's current employment.]