Thoughts on the last part of the 2014 NUS elections
Whilst I was busy revising for my upcoming examination on Occupational Psychology, where I have found myself to have a useful talent, the elections for the Block of 15, Trustee Board, and Democratic Procedures Committee of NUS for 2014 were occurring at NUS Headquarters in London.
Now that the results have been revealed, I will give my summary of the good and bad:
Good Points:
1. Three Young Greens were elected to the Block of 15, who were Clifford Fleming, Dario, and Siobhan 'Vonnie' Sandlan-(although only Clifford identified himself as a Young Green on the ballot paper)
2. NCAFC (National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts) representative Kelly Rogers got onto the Trustee Board.
3. Left-wing progressives Aaron Kiely and Edmund Schluessel were reelected onto the Block of 15, for a third term each.
Bad Points:
1. It turns out Daniel Cooper, NUS Presidential Candidate, was not eligible for Block of 15 at the time of the deadline-he cynically registered himself on a Further Education course at the last minute to stand in this election.
2.Long-time activist Michael Chessum was unfairly disqualified from the DPC election-he is appealing at this time of writing.
3.Peter Smallwood was elected onto the Trustee board despite widespread knowledge of his conservative, anti-progressive views.
4.Despite the nasty pro-police comments she made, Poppy Wilkinson of Labour students was elected onto the Block of 15, partly due to a sympathy vote (she had been bullied during the election campaign after making those comments).
I sadly failed to get elected to the Democratic Procedures Committee, even though I had more support than on my first attempt (which was at NUS Conference 2013), despite my efforts, and I still partly wonder why. This sadly marks the end of my involvement with NUS, but I can say it has been a good run, especially with the 20 speeches I made on NUS Conference floor over the last 4 years.
I can at least say that NUS is finally moving in a progressive direction, away from the semi-Blairite stance it has had for the last few years since those controversial reforms that were made by past NUS Presidents Gemma Turnelty and Wes Streeting, who shamefully might become a Labour MP next year. If the past is anything to go by, he will turn out to be a bad MP, given how many bad, opportunistic, self-centred Labour MPs NUS has turned out in the past e.g. Phil Woolas, Jack Straw, Lorna Fitzsimons, and Stephen Twigg, all four of whom were NUS Presidents once.
Alan.
Now that the results have been revealed, I will give my summary of the good and bad:
Good Points:
1. Three Young Greens were elected to the Block of 15, who were Clifford Fleming, Dario, and Siobhan 'Vonnie' Sandlan-(although only Clifford identified himself as a Young Green on the ballot paper)
2. NCAFC (National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts) representative Kelly Rogers got onto the Trustee Board.
3. Left-wing progressives Aaron Kiely and Edmund Schluessel were reelected onto the Block of 15, for a third term each.
Bad Points:
1. It turns out Daniel Cooper, NUS Presidential Candidate, was not eligible for Block of 15 at the time of the deadline-he cynically registered himself on a Further Education course at the last minute to stand in this election.
2.Long-time activist Michael Chessum was unfairly disqualified from the DPC election-he is appealing at this time of writing.
3.Peter Smallwood was elected onto the Trustee board despite widespread knowledge of his conservative, anti-progressive views.
4.Despite the nasty pro-police comments she made, Poppy Wilkinson of Labour students was elected onto the Block of 15, partly due to a sympathy vote (she had been bullied during the election campaign after making those comments).
I sadly failed to get elected to the Democratic Procedures Committee, even though I had more support than on my first attempt (which was at NUS Conference 2013), despite my efforts, and I still partly wonder why. This sadly marks the end of my involvement with NUS, but I can say it has been a good run, especially with the 20 speeches I made on NUS Conference floor over the last 4 years.
I can at least say that NUS is finally moving in a progressive direction, away from the semi-Blairite stance it has had for the last few years since those controversial reforms that were made by past NUS Presidents Gemma Turnelty and Wes Streeting, who shamefully might become a Labour MP next year. If the past is anything to go by, he will turn out to be a bad MP, given how many bad, opportunistic, self-centred Labour MPs NUS has turned out in the past e.g. Phil Woolas, Jack Straw, Lorna Fitzsimons, and Stephen Twigg, all four of whom were NUS Presidents once.
Alan.
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