Charlie Mackintosh has been elected President of the Oxford Union for Hilary Term 2023. Mackintosh was the Union’s Librarian for Trinity Term 2022, and defeated this term’s Secretary and outgoing President of the Student Union, Anvee Bhutani with 474 votes to 216.
The turn-out in this election was markedly lower than Hilary Term’s, with 779 votes compared to 1,128 votes cast respectively. The election saw large apathy towards the Union on Oxford social platforms, with many students complaining about the phenomenon of ‘hacking’.
Mackintosh’s slate also won all three other officerships:
Librarian: Disha Hegde (NEW) with 430 votes
Treasurer: Sharon Chau (NEW) with 411 votes
Secretary: Matthew Dick (NEW) with 395 votes
NEW won four of the available positions on the Standing Committee, meaning that Spencer Shia (107 votes), Lukas Seifert (91 votes), Rosie Jacobs (86 votes) and Hannah Edwards (108 votes) all obtained a seat. Of the remaining two positions, one went to BeREAL’s Rosalie Chapman (102 votes) and the remaining seat was for REAL’s Tom Elliott (80 votes).
Those elected Secretary’s Committee include Ciaron Tobin (NEW), Sebastian Watkins (NEW), Lewis Fisher (NEW), Kajaanan Vijtharan (NEW), Edie Guo (BeReal), Conrad Frøyland Moe (NEW), Beau Boka-Batesa (NEW), Amy Gilbride (BeREAL), Emily Macleod (NEW), Amy Ellis Winter (REAL) and Geronimo Hayaux du Tilly (NEW).
In a town hall for Cherwell, Mackintosh said he wanted to identify the barriers to widening access to the Union. He also said he hoped to host a panel on the Uyghur genocide, saying he was “disappointed” that the Union had not already done so.
Image credit: Charlie Mackintosh
