The following posts will be elected by members of DMU Labour Students on Wednesday 14^th March 2012, at our Annual General Meeting (AGM):

Chair: The chair oversees the activities of all of the other officers, and will sometimes delegate specific tasks to them. They chair all committee, executive and AGM meetings (unless they are absent, in which case, the Vice Chair takes this role). The chair should also act as chief spokesperson for the Club, and act as a strong liaison with other Labour Clubs, Labour Party organisers and elected representatives. The chair also coordinates events with guest speakers. In meetings, the chair also has the final vote in situations where a “tie” is reached. The chair may also communicate with membership through our social networks and email, but this is not solely their responsibility (see Comms and Press). The chair has the final say on agendas for meetings.

Vice Chair: The Vice Chair’s principle responsibility is to assist the Chair in his/her main responsibilities and activities. They will also take responsibility for the chair’s duties in their absence.  

Treasurer/Secretary (combined role): The treasurer/secretary is responsible for setting agendas (including debates etc) for our meetings (as agreed with the Chair). They also have the task of organising member socials and fundraisers. They have responsibility for our finances. It is their role to seek funding for the Club, and to oversee the taking-in of our membership fees and expenditure. The Treasurer/Secretary should report back to the committee at every meeting.

Communications and Press: Principally responsible for communicating with the Club’s membership (through weekly emails). The Communications officer also has responsibility (but not exclusively) over updating our Facebook and Twitter pages. Working closely with the Chair, the Comms officer should also regularly meet with the student media (The Demon, DemonFM etc) and ensure the Club and its activities/guest speakers get as much coverage as possible.

Campaigns Coordinator: Has responsibility for coming up with campaigning ideas, to be agreed at committee meetings, and how these ideas can be implemented or achieved. This may involve working closely with our other officers (e.g Equalities Officer). The campaigns officer should also work closely with the CLP liaison, in order to organise (with the CLPs) campaigning/door knocking days. Regular contact with the Campaigns officer at UoL Labour Society is also essential.

Equalities Officer (inc. women, ethnic minorities, LGBT and disability) Works closely with the Campaigns officer and Chair to organise liberation events and campaigns. The Equalities officer should also attend relevant DMU society meetings and attempt to coordinate joint liberation campaigns with them.

If you wish to stand for any of these positions, please email dmulabour@gmail.com ASAP 

Our local MP, Jon Ashworth, visited DMU Students Union on Friday to talk to students about local and national concerns. He also met the Students Union President, Liam Davis.

Andy Burnham MP

On Thursday we went to the East Midlands #dropthebill rally in Leicester. We heard from Liz Kendall MP, Andy Burnham MP, Diane Abbott MP, Andrew Gwynne MP and Debbie Abrahams MP.

Wednesday 18th Jan: All member meeting. Taking place in HU1.82 (Hugh Aston) at 5.15pm. 

Thursday 19th Jan: “Drop the Bill” campaign comes to Leicester. Shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham MP, is holding a Drop The Bill rally in Leicester in protest at David Cameron’s reorganisation of the NHS. Location is not confirmed yet, but we will be meeting on campus and going down to the event together. It would be great if you could join us. To register to attend please email vicky_street@labour.org.uk. Places are limited so please register by 12pm Wednesday 18 January. We will send another email out before Thursday! 

Friday 20th Jan: Jon Ashworth MP: Roving Surgery at DMU. Our local MP will be on campus in the Social Space (Level 1 of the Students Union) between 12-1pm. He’ll be there both to chat to students and also to listen to any local or national issues they may wish to discuss. The event is informal and you can come along any time in the hour. Please spread the word about this event, and come down if you can make it!

A huge thank you to all those who came along to our first big event of the year; Q&A with former Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith. We’d also like to thank Jacqui for taking the time to come and visit our Club. We hope you all had a great evening.

As part of the hour long programme on student politics, the station interviewed former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, ahead of her visit to DMU next week.

They also interviewed our Vice Chair, Jack Siddons, about the event.

(left to right) Chris Longman, Rob Jackson, Jack Siddons, Josh Cowen and Mathew Hulbert

 We promise we will have our own DMU banner by the next event!

Deputy Mayor, Rory Palmer

Hope you can make it!

The Exchange Bar, Friday 21st October, 7pm. Meet at 6.40pm outside the Students Union. 

With the launch of The Purple Book, Progress are going round the country to debate the ideas it contains. These events will give local members a chance to hear from authors of The Purple Book about their chapter and discuss the wider theme of the book, redistributing power. In particular, the event will explore, whether or not Labour should get back in touch with its decentralising tradition and if so how it should achieve this. Progress will be in Leicester on the 13 October 2011 between 7:30pm and 9:00pm at The Phoenix (Phoenix Square, Midland Street). Speakers:

• Author: Liz Kendall MP
• Author: Richard Angell (Progress)
• Speaker: Gloria De Piero MP
• Speaker: Kevin McKeever (Corby CLP)
• Chair: Matthew O’Callaghan (Loughborough PPC)

If you are interested in attending, we will be meeting on the steps of the Students Union at 7.00pm and walking to the venue. Free tickets can be processed and printed off here: http://thepurplebookleicester.eventbrite.com/