A candidate who mocked well-off students and held two fingers up to student politics nearly became the head of the student body during St Andrews University’s 600th anniversary year.
Jamie Ross would have become president of the St Andrews Students’ Association if the election had been first past the post but instead came a close second to Chloe Hill.
In his manifesto, the final-year student from Kinross and student newspaper columnist described student politics as pointless and himself as someone who “actively attacks posh people on a weekly basis”. He also claimed to be standing for election only as he “has nothing better to do with his time”.
Throughout the pre-election presidential debate, which he only attended after being threatened with disqualification, he reportedly watched a film on his laptop.
While there were claims Jamie’s vote was an embarrassment to the student union, current association president Freddie Fforde said the candidate gave an element of fun to the elections.
He said: “St Andrews holds by far the record interaction in student elections nationwide, with the only turnout over 50%.
“We are once again delighted at continuing this achievement in the recent elections, demonstrating for a second year running how engaged students are in the democratic process.
“Jamie Ross, a well-known satirist in student media, offered this year’s quirky story and continued the long-running tradition of having fun in election week.”
Jamie was unavailable for comment.