Former FE student Shakira Martin has been re-elected as NUS president for a second term. Student representatives also confirmed Emily Chapman in her post as vice president FE for a second term. She told Twitter she was “grateful to be able to finish what [she] started”.
Ms Martin was first elected NUS president in 2017-18 and has been re-elected for 2018-19. The former Lewisham College student previously served as the union’s vice-president for FE.
There were three candidates for president in the latest election, with Sahaya James, Shakira Martin and Momin Saqib all running for office. The delegates in the conference hall were told to obstain from “whooping” before candidates gave five-minute speeches. There were no questions to the candidates.
‘Violence in our colleges’
Ms Martin, the incumbent president, said her education in FE helped her to rise to be the NUS president. There is “violence in our colleges”, she said, adding: “There is something we can do about it.”
Ms James, a former FE college president, said she had come straight from an occupation at her university in London. She used the phrase “for the many, not the few” several times throughout her address.
Mr Saqib said he had helped to change the lives of thousands of students at his university, and asked “Where is the NUS?” on issues including mental health and poverty.
The NUS national conference is being held over three days at the SEC Armadillo in Glasgow, and will see a new leadership team elected. The national president and vice-presidents are voted in by member students’ union student representatives.
How NUS representatives voted
- Sahaya James: 104 (15 per cent)
- Shakira Martin: 352 (51 per cent)
- Momin Saqib: 168 (24 per cent)
- Reopen nominations (a vote against all three candidates): 66 (10 per cent)
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