The results of the OUSU elections were announced last night, heralding victory for ‘Martha4OUSU’, the slate led by current St. John’s College third year Martha Mackenzie.
Mackenzie, who is studying History and Politics, will take up the position of OUSU President next year.
She received 1483 votes, while her opponent Tom Scott, a third year PPE student from New College, received 1246.
Hannah Cusworth and Seb Baird, the other two students running for sabbatical positions on the ‘Martha4OUSU’ slate, were also both elected.
Cusworth will be Vice President for Access and Academic Affairs in the academic year 2011-2012, and Baird wll be Vice President for Welfare and Equal Opportunities.
The two other sabbatical positions were won by Yuan Yang, who will be the Vice President for Women, and Daniel Stone, who will be the Vice President for Charities and Community.
Total turnout for the elections was 14 per cent of the student population of Oxford. This is two per cent less than last year.
The ‘Martha4OUSU’ campaign slogan was “Listening, Leading, Delivering.” Among their proposed policies are to establish official minimum standards of academic provision accross colleges, and to set up a career development fund.
The OUSU presidential and vice-presidential jobs are full-time , paid positions. This year the salary for all five is estimated at £19,946 including National Insurance contributions, or £17,519 without.
Reactions to the results were mixed last night. Kat Shields, a second year student at St. Catherine’s College who worked as an agent for Martha Mackenzie’s slate said, “I’m so ecstatic about how we got on. We got all our slate elected.”
However Nathan Jones, who ran to be NUS Delegate as part of Tom Scott’s slate, ‘Team TED’. said, “This was an exciting campaign, and it was a privilege for me to work with such a talented and committed group of individuals.
“That their skills will not be used next year is a loss for our Student Union and for the students of Oxford. While we are naturally disappointed with the result, we congratulate Martha on a well-fought campaign.
“A disappointingly low turnout is indicative of the size of the work ahead in making OUSU more relevant and we know Martha will work tirelessly in seeking to do so.”
Mackenzie received considerable support from the Oxford University Labour Club (see box, left). Ben Lyons, a former OULC Co-Chair, said, “She will be a fantastic representative and a dedicated campaigner.
“It was exciting to be challengedby such strong opponents. They had many good ideas and campaigned honestly.”
