Last week saw a shock result in the Hertford JCR elections, as the sole candidates for Entz were met with a resounding RON (re-open nominations) vote from their fellow students.
With a margin of RON 107 – Entz Team 61, the vote was unprecedented in Hertford history. Hugh Baker, the JCR President, told Cherwell, “I was surprised, and I think the team that got RONed would have done a great job. I was aware of a RON campaign against them, but thought that common sense would prevail and people would vote for the only candidate team offering themselves as Entz, who were easily capable. We are now having hustings for the new Entz committee elections in our 5th week JCR meeting, with several teams having already expressed their interest.”
The group’s manifesto, under the heading “Failure is not a BOPtion!” promised to “[Add] our own special touch to the Entz of 2013. We will strive to achieve first-class BOPS and some beaut new events. That’s BOP I’m talking about!” The manifesto ended with a pledge to “provide superb Bops and keep the puns rolling.”
Among the student population, reactions to the surprise result were mixed. One first year who resisted the campaign to RON the Entz candidates told Cherwell, “It just became a huge popularity contest where none of the voters considered the issue of whether they would actually have been good or not at organising bops, which after all would have been their fundamental role. I was really disappointed with the outcome.”
Other students were pleased with the result, with one concluding that “If the group running for Entz had won, the victory would only have served to feed their already sizeable egos. Their unconvincing and underprepared hust saw poor use of ‘bop’ puns and little knowledge of what is actually involved in hosting events.” Other students also seem to have been put off by the candidates’ comedic offerings, with one second year telling Cherwell, “This just shows Hertford’s reputation for inclusivity doesn’t mean we’ll tolerate shoddy wordplay. I just hope they don’t bop themselves.”
Some chose to take a different view altogether on the whole affair – as one first year put it to Cherwell, “Perhaps the focus here shouldn’t be on the failure of the Entz campaign, but on RON’s success. I for one am delighted to see a candidate who is so often left disappointed at the ballot box finally achieve the victory that his perseverance deserves. It’s unfortunate for the defeated nominees that they were up against such a formidable opponent on the day. RON has managed to go his entire political career at Hertford without making a single enemy and as such, this victory was perhaps as inevitable as it was merited.”
The unsuccessful Entz candidates declined to comment.
