Sara Dube has been elected to serve as Oxford Union President in Hilary 2020 after a three way race that saw her claim 521 first preference votes over Charlie Coverman’s 355 and Amy Gregg’s 244.
Candidates representing Dube’s “RISE” slate also succeeded in securing the offices of Treasurer-elect (Beatrice Barr) and Secretary-elect (Lee Chin Wee).
In the race for Librarian-elect – for which “RISE” did not nominate a candidate due to an incident in which the expected candidate, Ayman D’Souza, was instead nominated in the Treasurer-elect race – Coverman’s “2020 Vision” slate successfully elected Spencer Cohen in a close race with Mo Iman, a member of Gregg’s “Unlock the Union” slate.
2020 Vision were also successful in nomination the candidates with the most first preference votes in the races for Standing Committee (Chengkai Xie), and Secretary’s Committee (Geneva Roy).
The night was disappointing for the Unlock the Union slate, who took 1 of the 7 places on Standing Committee and 2 of the 11 places on Secretary’s Committee. By contrast, RISE claimed 2 places on Standing Committee, while 2020 Vision won 3, and RISE saw 5 of its candidates elected to Secretary’s Committee to 2020 Vision’s 4.
Speaking to Cherwell about the results, Unlock the Union said: “We are, of course, disappointed with this morning’s results. But we are also so proud of every member of our team, they’ve all put in so much work – and we are really pleased for the members of our team who were successful.
“We wish both other campaigns the best and hope that the winning officers will push for the substantial change the Union needs.”
One independent candidate, Joseph Grehan-Bradley, was successfully elected to Standing Committee. Speaking to Cherwell, Grehan-Bradley said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have been elected, and to have finished third. I’m so grateful to all the people who took time out from their busy schedules yesterday to drop me a vote.
“I hope to affirm their confidence in me next term by acting as a voice for change in the union, and by delivering on my pledge to hold a referendum on the question of abolishing slates.”
The closely-fought three-way election was fought on a number of issues, with RISE pledging to spend less on committee and more on members, to negotiate a discounted Plush entry price for members, and to move the membership registration process online. 2020 Vision had pledged to offer £1 pints during happy hour at the Oxford Union bar, to organise movie screenings with actors and directors, and to invite more BME speakers. Unlock the Union’s offers included accrediting a living wage for all Union staff, filming YouTube debate tutorials, and tabling a referendum on banning slates.
Dube, Barr, and Cohen will serve their terms as President, Treasurer, and Librarian in Hilary term of 2020, while Lee will assume the role of Secretary in Michaelmas term of 2019.
Cherwell has contacted the RISE and 2020 Vision campaigns for comment.
