Nominations for the CUSU presidential and sabbatical elections, the voting for which will begin on Monday 7th March, have been announced.

Four of the six sabbatical positions are highly contested; most notably that of the presidency, for which three candidates are standing: Adam Booth from Robinson College, and Gerard Tully and Sam Wakefield, both from Trinity Hall.

Booth is a PhD student at the Engineering Department and, in his manifesto, claims to "know about student life from all angles as an undergraduate, a post-graduate, and a supervisor". He has been an active campaigner for several groups in Cambridge over the past six years, most recently in Cambridge Defend Education.

Gerard Tully reads Archaeology as an undergraduate, and advertises his "Right Experience, Bright Ideas". He was vice president of the Cambridge Union Society in Lent and Easter 2010 as well as CUSU Secretary and Undergraduate Development Officer in 2009/10.

Sam Wakeford is running for his second sabbatical position; the Archaeology and Anthropology student was this year’s CUSU Education Officer. He is campaigning on a joint ticket with Morgan Wild, from Sidney Sussex, who is running for the uncontested position of Education Officer. Their election slogan is "re-elect experience and ideas".

The candidates’ manifestos reveal overarching similarities in their policy positions – all three unsurprisingly promise to fight against cuts and aspire to better access – though their approaches are considerably different.

Sam Wakeford, regarded by most to be the establishment candidate, reiterates his claims to "experience" throughout his manifesto. Having been involved in CUSU campaigns for nearly four years, he talks a great deal of "applying pressure" on the NUS and "campaigning against the government’s disastrous fees policies".

With the exception of a planned campaign "for hobs to be returned to student kitchens", Wakeford’s emphasis seems to be upon what he has achieved, rather than what he aims to achieve.

Adam Booth is campaigning "for a fighting student union" which focuses on lowering living costs in Cambridge, pushing for greater investment in University buildings and infrastructure and, most importantly it seems, sustaining a student union that is able to "fight against fees". Booth’s participation in Cambridge Defend Education is evident in his commitment to campaigning (for which he has a separate section in his manifesto), and linking with other groups around Cambridge to address public sector cuts.

His affiliation with the left – a fact that he does not play down in his manifesto – is likely to be a deciding factor in his appeal or otherwise with the student electorate.

In contrast, Tully’s manifesto claims: "I will fight for students, not an ideology." He wants to concentrate on being a "President dedicated to students above all else" which would involve "streamlin[ing]" CUSU to provide better engagement with ordinary students. Additional aims include increasing student safety by campaigning for a greater police presence in problem areas and, on a more light hearted note, diversifying CUSU ents and providing greater student discounts.

Commenting on this year’s selection of candidates, outgoing President Rahul Mansigani told Varsity: "I’m really glad to see the level of interest in CUSU in this election: there are a range of very good candidates for all positions. Next year is going to be very challenging for CUSU, and the candidates all offer different visions of how they will tackle this."

Yet despite the diversity and potential interest surrounding the contest, turnout in CUSU election has in recent years been notoriously low with only 13.1 per cent casting their vote in the Colleges in 2010. 2009 had a record turnout of just 21 per cent, in comparison to a moderate 17.1 per cent participation rate in the 2008 elections. Nevertheless, there does not appear to be a correlation between the supposed level of interest and voter turnout.

Many students feel that their college JCRs and MCRs have a greater influence on their everyday life and that, whilst CUSU provides training and support for the College Unions, its remains distant from the student body. CUSU faced serious criticism last November when Corpus Christi JCR decide to disaffiliate. The act provoked momentary uncertainty in other JCR committees, though eventually no other Combination Room decided to leave CUSU.

The most contested positions in this year’s elections, the voting for which begins online on Monday, are Student Support and Access and Funding Officer, with four candidates each competing for the sabbatical positions. In contrast, both Women’s and Education Officer only have one candidate each: Ruth Graham, from Christ’s College, and Morgan Wild, from Sidney Sussex, respectively. An uncontested nomination is not, however, a guarantee of success. In the by-election for CUSU Coordinator in October 2010, Luke Hawksbee, the only candidate running, lost out to RON on a 13 per cent turnout.