A surprise vote of no confidence in St Anne’s JCR Treasurer Alexander Gallagher failed to remove him from the post, but last night Gallagher resigned anyway.
At Sunday’s JCR meeting, Gallagher was called upon to defend his position after a college-wide email sent by the JCR President proposed a vote of no confidence.
Gallagher survived the vote as only 57 per cent of those present voted in favour failing to meet the required threshold of 66 per cent.
Gallagher reportedly failed to attend seven out of eight JCR Committee meetings this year. According to the JCR constitution, missing more than three results in an automatic no confidence motion.
The motion also drew attention to instances in which members of the JCR Committee had not been reimbursed for outstanding expenses since Michaelmas.
It has also been reported that there were inconsistencies between Gallagher’s reasons for non-attendance to the JCR Committee and his defence on Sunday evening.
The meeting in which the motion was debated was very heated. Gallagher’s competence for the role and the handling of the matter by the JCR both came under fire.
As Gallagher was officially unaware of the vote until the college-wide email was sent this week, many claimed that the JCR acted “heavy-handedly”. However, one St Anne’s student claimed, “While the JCR handled it pretty badly, he still should have gone”.
On Thursday Gallagher resigned, stating in an email to undergraduates, “After recent events, I now feel unable to remain part of the committee”, and apologising for the delay in reimbursements.
Many of those who were at the JCR meeting wanted to stress that Gallagher was “a lovely guy” and that the no confidence motion failed was a reflection of this.
