As Returning Officer of the last NUS election, it was my job to remain completely impartial and ensure the election was run in a fair and democratic way, no easy task. The vote returned was “Yes” for affiliation with a marginal majority of 53%. After one and a half years of membership, I believe it is time to review this decision. If we held a referendum tomorrow, I strongly believe it would return a no vote, £55,000 (the NUS affiliation fee for next year) is a lot of money for any Yes campaign to justify, but would it be fair? If elected I will call for a referendum halfway through the year, with two full years of NUS membership, both parties will have access to enough information to answer the question, “Is £55,000 per year worth it?”
I do not believe the President should take an active role in a campaign to disaffiliate, the decision should be taken by the students and not influenced or dictated by the President (not that I am suggesting this happened last time). If elected, my role would be to conduct the review, publish the findings and petition the referendum, after that, I would step aside to allow the campaign to be led by students. Even if we remain affiliated, I will spend my time as Union President working for Imperial students, not the NUS.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Review how we have benefited from NUS membership and publish the results.
2. Call for an independent referendum on continued membership.
3. Work for Imperial Students first and only with the NUS when it directly benefits our members.
