Firstly it’s great to see that Rag will be contested this year, it’s been too long since this has been the case.
Having worked against and with both Nanson and Lyness as a Rag Rep and on Rag Committee I believe it will be a tight battle with Nanson coming out on top.
The reason I believe it will be a tight battle is that both are extremely strong candidates who have different key qualities that would make them a good Rag Chair.
Lyness has a proven track record in Rag, winning best off-coming Rag Rep and Star Fundraiser at last year’s Rag Awards. When you add this to his past experience as Rutherford Hall Chair and current role of Rag logistics officer, he is clearly an extremely strong candidate.
By contrast, Nanson has lead Bill Mo to second place in Rag during his time as rep, was crowned King of Bill Mo last year, and is currently one half of Rag’s internal events team.
On paper I’d say Lyness just has the edge but nothing is ever as simple as what paper shows.
So why do I think Nanson will win it?
Lyness’ biggest strength is also his biggest weakness, his mouth. He speaks his mind and says it how it is. Whilst this is the reason he is such a good collector and made him such a good rep, his inappropriate comments have often alienated people within Rag and nearly cost him during his Rag Logistics campaign.
In fact I wouldn’t bet against the same self-destruction happening at the bubble debate.
Looking at their manifesto points I believe both have some good points and it will be great to watch how this unfolds during The Bubble Debate, especially how Lyness articulates the reasoning behind bringing back events such as three peaks and the collaboration with AU.
Looking at Nanson’s manifesto it will be equally as interesting to see how he elaborates on increasing Rag’s sponsorship and how he intends to reward participants.
As halls are likely to stay loyal, the key battle outside The Bubble Debate will be the Rag section itself. Nanson has firm control over this already as seen by numerous hall reps, team leaders and committee members changing their profile picture in support of Nanson and I believe this will prove pivotal in gaining votes from other halls and students.
The Ragnam profile picture itself shows one of Nanson’s key qualities in connecting with people allowing others to be the face of his campaign and showing he has the ability to back up his manifesto point of modernising marketing. I believe things such as this in addition to a good showing at The Bubble Debate will cause Nanson’s popularity to grow throughout campaigning and will be enough to see him elected as Rag Chair.
How can Lyness win it? If he can put all the energy he has shown by being active in his department, in Rutherford, in Sno and in Rag and just focus on the campaign then he has a chance.
However, I believe his failure to prioritise Rag this year, and balance his multiple commitments, which has caused him to be almost non-existent as logistics officer will prove too costly.
Disclaimer: These are the opinions of the author only and may not be representative the opinions of The Epinal or any of it’s editorial team.
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