York NUS hopeful places last in leadership election

Thomas Byrne, a first year Politics student, has placed bottom in the Presidential poll at the National Union of Students’ conference in Gateshead, with only 18 first-choice votes, out of a possible 744.

Byrne, who was hoping to succeed Aaron Porter in the top job, co-founded the Students For Tuition Fees Reform group which supported the government’s plans for changes to Higher Education funding and the increase in tuition fees. In an article written for The Guardian, Byrne argued that the raised level for loan repayment (from £15,000 annual salary to £21,000) would in fact benefit students by removing the burden of debt until a more established career position could be reached.

Speaking to Vision, Byrne explained that through his campaign he felt he had demonstrated the accessibility of the NUS electoral system, showing that “anyone can go to the NUS conference and get respect.” He may only have received 18 votes, but Byrne added that he had also won “a chance to win for all those I’ve opened the door for.”

Liam Burns, who is the current President of NUS Scotland won the election; his campaign focussed contrastingly on retaining free university education in Scotland and a continuation of protest and civil disobedience in the campaign against higher tuition fees nationally. A proposal to stage another national protest this Autumn, however, was rejected.

The NUS annual conference, held at The Sage music and performance centre near Newcastle, was attended by the University of York delegates Luke Sandford, Ben Humphrys and Alexandra Peck. Sandford told Vision that he was glad Byrne’s controversial views had been aired at the conference, “which all too often doesn’t represent the centre-right,” adding that this is mainly due to few right wing students actively engaging with the NUS. He went on to explain that “whilst there are vocal socialist delegates [in the NUS], the election and policy votes showed that the majority were relatively moderate in their view.”

York Student Union President Tim Ngwena also attended, and was impressed by Byrne’s performance on the podium, telling Vision that while “many may not agree with his values, he definitely held his own on an intimidating conference floor.”