President of New College JCR Harry Aldridge was removed from office late last night in a motion of no-confidence.
The motion received 115 votes in favour, with 71 JCR members voting to keep Aldridge as President and 15 abstaining, out of a total of 421 New College undergraduates. The vote came just four weeks before the end of Aldridge’s last term as JCR President after eight months in the role.
The motion, brought to a JCR meeting on Saturday evening by third-year undergraduate Jacob Newby, accused Aldridge of holding “too many officerships across a multiplicity of university societies”, and prioritising “Oxford Union and Labour Club elections over the JCR”. According to the motion, this led to a “widespread view amongst members of the JCR…that the President has failed to live up to standards expected of the leader of the JCR, and indeed the standards of recent Presidents”. The motion claimed that Aldridge had failed to implement any manifesto pledges, and noted vacancies in the JCR’s Vice-Presidential positions.
During his term as JCR President, Aldridge has held several senior student society positions, including President of the 93% Club, Co-Chair of the Oxford Labour Club, Associate Editor of The Oxford Student, President of Media Society, Secretary of the Oxford Union and Oxford Union Librarian-Elect. At the same JCR meeting, Aldridge proposed an amendment to the JCR Standing Orders to “bar JCR Officers from Holding Concurrent Positions in the Oxford Union”, a motion seconded by Newby. This motion was approved overwhelmingly by JCR members, with 149 votes in favour and 28 against.
In emails sent to JCR members before and during the poll, Aldridge acknowledged that “many people feel the JCR has not operated to the best possible standard this year” and “there were periods when communication was not good enough”. He noted that “it is important that I acknowledge publicly that mistakes were made”, but said he hoped to have met “the vast majority” of his manifesto pledges by the end of his term. He described serving as JCR President as “the greatest privilege” of his time in Oxford, and said he was “incredibly grateful to everyone who placed their trust in me at the start of the year”.
Defending his record, Aldridge told JCR members: “I have never missed a JCR meeting, have consistently made myself available to students and have tried to approach the role with energy and genuine care for the community”. He noted progress on accommodation rent negotiations, changes to the JCR website and progress towards free printing for finalists, and urged members to consider the need for “a proper handover to the incoming committee”.
Following the result, Aldridge told Cherwell he was “deeply upset” by the outcome of the vote but “incredibly grateful” to students who had supported him during his presidency. He added that he was saddened that “the college will now lose the opportunity for a proper end-of-term handover and the completion of several ongoing projects”.
Aldridge also criticised the way the no-confidence process had unfolded. He told Cherwell that, following earlier discussions with the original proposers of the motion, he had believed concerns about his presidency had been resolved, and described the motion being “unexpectedly revived” at the JCR meeting on Saturday evening as “a genuine shock”. He also alleged that “the atmosphere surrounding the vote became increasingly personal and politically hostile”, and said he had received “anonymous abusive messages”, including some “genuinely threatening in nature”.
An unsuccessful no-confidence motion was brought against University College JCR President Robert Mylne held earlier this term, but successful no-confidence motions are rare. In 2023, the Magdalen College JCR President was forced to resign following several resignations of committee members, but avoided a no-confidence motion.
According to the JCR Standing Orders, if the position of President becomes vacant, the Vice-President for Welfare and Equality will perform the duties of President until a by-election is held. Announcing the results by email to New College undergraduates, the JCR Secretary said more information would be given “in the coming days” to outline the details of a by-election for the position of President for the remainder of Trinity Term. According to the Standing Orders, Aldridge would be eligible to run in any by-election for the position of President.
First-year undergraduate Paarth Goswami was elected New College JCR President for the 2026-2027 academic year earlier this month.
