Members of King’s Banking and Finance Society (BFS) attempted to influence the election of the committees of King’s Economics and Finance Society (EFS) and Women in Business (WIB) during last year’s King’s College London Student Union (KCLSU) elections by exploiting a loophole in the KCLSU’s Election complaint procedures.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on 26 August 2024. It was taken down on the same day due to a complaint.
Evidence seen by Roar suggests those behind the takeover achieved this in two stages. Firstly, by coaching BFS members on how to run for executive positions in EFS and WIB without attracting attention, and then by pressuring BFS members ahead of the KCLSU elections to buy memberships of the target societies and vote for the BFS-affiliated candidates.
Five of the candidates won the election for the EFS committee and two for the WIB committee – including the presidencies of both societies.
Those behind the plan are all connected to BFS or its smaller affiliated societies.
Despite not orchestrating the plan, the incoming BFS president is a key figure. A source reports overhearing a conversation in Bush House, where he advised some of the winning candidates on how to manage confused reactions over their unexpected victories.
He cautioned these candidates to ignore messages from the outgoing committee to avoid substantiating allegations of misconduct: “If anyone messages you on WhatsApp, LinkedIn, don’t reply, just in case it helps their case.”
Recognising that their takeover may warrant a complaint to the KCLSU, he reassured the elected candidates, “If you want to complain when it comes to the elections—and this is us being smart—you have to complain within 24 hours of the voting period”.
He continued, “So obviously they might say ‘we are going to complain’, but it doesn’t really matter.” This refers to KCLSU Bye-Law 5.21, which restricts the window for submitting an election complaint to 24 hours after voting closes.
8 March 2024 was the deadline to complain, a week before the results were announced.
The incoming BFS President was heard laughing and jokingly commenting, “Honestly, we’re having fun. It’s like a TV show.”
Multiple pieces of evidence provided to Roar confirmed that those involved in the plan pressured members to purchase memberships and vote accordingly during the election period. On 5 March, the incoming BFS President sent a WhatsApp message detailing how society members should vote in BFS, EFS, WIB and Student Union elections.
Of the 11 EFS and WIB campaigns listed, 7 were successful:
- EFS Presidency
- EFS VP and Head of HR
- EFS Treasurer
- EFS Head of Mentorship
- EFS Welfare Officer
- WIB President
- WIB Treasurer
While society endorsements for university-wide positions are not uncommon, it is rarer for society leaders to tell members how to vote in elections for another society’s committee or pressure them to do so.
EFS, WIB, and BFS are three of the most popular finance-related KCLSU-affiliated societies. According to the incumbent EFS leadership, they have largely engaged in “friendly competition”. BFS’ infiltration strategy took the EFS and WIB committees by complete surprise.
“We are deeply concerned by the recent actions of KBFS, which we believe undermine the collaborative culture and community spirit of KCL. The attempt to gain control over both EFS and WIB, with candidates endorsed by and tied to KBFS, directly disrespects the hard work and independence of our existing committee members. More importantly, nearly identical leadership across three of the largest societies at KCL would be detrimental to future student experience.
…
These actions not only disrespect the efforts of our committees to deliver exceptional events but also undermine the inclusive community we have fostered. Allowing individuals to be elected who misled members and whose intentions lacked transparency would disregard KCLSU’s efforts to ensure honest, democratic and fair elections…”Former Economics and Finance Society spokesperson
“Following a series of testimonies, WIB and EFS are disappointed by the apparent misconduct in the 2024 KCLSU elections, planned and executed by a group within the King’s Banking and Finance Society.
The election agenda that KBFS promoted is a direct attack to the legacy of WIB. Women in Business is, and will always be, a women-led society. We do not accept to be assimilated with KBFS or any other non-women led society. WIB will not tolerate any lobbying activities, especially those that undermine the principles of transparency, collaboration, and freedom and the reputation of students and KCL.
We are dedicated to ensuring the perpetuity of WIB’s legacy as a woman-led society, as we strongly believe empowered women empower women.”
Former Women in Business spokesperson
The New Committees’ Response
Roar contacted all three new committees for comment. The incoming BFS committee provided the following statement:
“BFS does not endorse any candidates for society elections through its social media channels, nor are there plans to takeover or merge with any KCLSU society.
Effective campaigning involves students reaching out politely via social media or engaging directly with peers to gather votes; this should not be confused with pressuring. Personal endorsements are allowed and common at KCL, and students can run for multiple societies.
The reference to ignoring messages from the outgoing committee relates to a past case where some outgoing committee members sent election-winning candidates baseless threats and attempted to pressure them.
The incoming BFS president was amused by a since-deleted comment, by an outgoing EFS committee member, claiming that the president-elect of EFS was ’’not a member of EFS’’ – even though membership is required for nomination and the president-elect of EFS clearly won the election publicly via KCLSU.”
Current King’s Business and Finance Society Spokesperson
The newly elected president of EFS provided the following statement:
“All 11 candidates elected for the upcoming EFS committee are justly elected. All are EFS members, with only one having previously held a committee position at both BFS and EFS, making all candidates EFS-affiliated.
No one is forced to buy an EFS membership. If they do register to be a member it’s in their own capacity to nominate themselves or take part in EFS’s great events.
Everyone is allowed to endorse the students they wish to support, as this is a fundamental principle of campaigning.
Election complaints can be submitted at any time before and during the campaigning and voting process. Also, if a student group or its members do something wrong, the KCLSU complaints team handles these issues year-round.”
Current Economics and Finance Society spokesperson
The newly elected president of WIB is firm: “I ran in this election because I genuinely believe I am a good candidate.”
The affiliated BFS members asserted that the successful candidates were qualified and fairly elected. They also claimed that the former EFS committee attempted to rig the elections by coercing attendees at their Annual General Meeting to vote for the committee’s preferred presidential candidate on the KCLSU website.
The former EFS committee dismissed these claims: “There is only one group of individuals attempting to acquire several societies by means of coercion – just take a look at the common denominator between the 24/25 exec committee for BFS and EFS.”
How the KCLSU Responded
Both WIB and EFS submitted formal complaints to the KCLSU after the Election in March. The outgoing WIB committee reports having a meeting with KCLSU Governance. According to the committee, the meeting ended on a positive note.
However, the KCLSU informed them in a letter soon after that the case would be marked as closed, emphasising that there are no restrictions on purchasing memberships for any society. “We were shocked and disappointed at the lack of action on the part of the KCLSU and the lack of consideration for the wellbeing of the student community”, shared a spokesperson for WIB. The society appealed KCLSU’s decision.
The KCLSU did not respond to Roar’s request for comment.
