Students Outraged After Accidentally Voting for Tory SU President

Newcastle University students are “appalled” to have discovered they inadvertently voted for a Tory as the incoming president of the Student Union (SU), and are demanding the election be rendered “null and void” now they have realised he’s not some tree-hugging Marxist. Shah Yaseen Ali was elected as the president of the SU in March, and is now standing as the Conservative candidate for Heaton in the Newcastle City Council election.

While Ali is promising to “unleash Heaton’s potential” if he repeats his barnstorming victory next month, the kids at Newcastle University are calling foul play on the grounds that he hadn’t declared his ambitions before seizing power at the SU. Which just sounds like smart politics to Guido. Ali will go far…

Here are a few quotes from students upon learning the devastating news:

“It’s a slap in the face to all students”

“I feel betrayed”

“It’s absolutely shameful, he’s obviously not committed to the role of SU president. There’s already a vote of no confidence going around about him.”

“He deliberately concealed it from voters. I would not have voted for him if I’d had known.”

“If I’d have known he was a Tory I wouldn’t have voted for him.”

“How is he going to actually deliver for the students of our uni? It’s ridiculous. I’m just really skeptical about how he will be able to fully deliver for NUSU if his mind is elsewhere with political commitments regardless of his party choice.”

“It’s appalling…”

There were at least a few students who offered support, with one saying it’s “great news” that proves “Shah cares about his area”. Guido wishes Shah luck next month…

 mdi-timer 19 April 2023 @ 17:15 19 Apr 2023 @ 17:15 mdi-twitter mdi-facebook mdi-whatsapp mdi-telegram mdi-linkedin mdi-email mdi-comment View Comments Manchester Students Revolt Against ‘Fenced In’ Lockdown

Mass gatherings of Manchester students were held last night to protest new security fences being erected by the university as a “lockdown security measure“, limiting entry and exit points to the Fallowfield campus to the south of the city. Despite the University saying it would take down the fences in the morning following backlash, students went ahead with the protest and tore them down overnight instead.

Universities have been among the largest hotspots of corona case surges, with many students continuing to gather, hold parties, and mingle. Perhaps they aren’t so authoritarian after all…

Nigel Farage may have found a new unlikely base of support for Reform UK…

 mdi-timer 6 November 2020 @ 11:59 6 Nov 2020 @ 11:59 mdi-twitter mdi-facebook mdi-whatsapp mdi-telegram mdi-linkedin mdi-email mdi-comment View Comments
Goldsmith’s Bans Beef on Campus

Goldsmith’s, University of London has continued its crusade to outdo SOAS as the most loony left wing academic establishment in the UK by acquiescing to all of the demands of militant left wing students demanding a ‘Green New Deal’ for the University. The pledges include…

  • Make the University carbon neutral by 2025. But not a word on how to pay for it…
  • Install mandatory first year modules in climate change and ecology. Enticing… 
  • Totally divest from fossil fuel industries. In just four months…
  • Ending chemical use in gardening. Just wait until they work out what the word chemical means…
  • Ban the sale of beef on campus. Seriously.

Goldsmith’s SU president released a statement saying “Our house is on fire”. Soon their university’s finances will be too.

 mdi-timer 12 August 2019 @ 17:26 12 Aug 2019 @ 17:26 mdi-twitter mdi-facebook mdi-whatsapp mdi-telegram mdi-linkedin mdi-email mdi-comment View Comments Mogg Calls for EU Student Subsidies to Go to Students From Developing World Instead

Jacob Rees-Mogg has come up with the most interesting suggestion yet in the row over EU student subsidies after Brexit – instead of continuing to give subsidies to students from “some of the richest, most well-to-do countries in the world”, give them to students from the world’s developing countries instead. Global Britain is not just a slogan…

International students from outside the EU currently get slammed by the double whammy of huge fees with no access to student finance, making it far harder for students from poorer countries to come to the UK on merit. Funny how it’s the Remainers who would normally be the first to tell people to check their white privilege who are leaping to defend it now…

 mdi-timer 29 April 2019 @ 16:30 29 Apr 2019 @ 16:30 mdi-twitter mdi-facebook mdi-whatsapp mdi-telegram mdi-linkedin mdi-email mdi-comment View Comments
Numbers of International Students Up Despite Brexit

New data published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency has revealed that numbers of both EU and Non-EU students attending British universities have risen again, despite Brexit. In 2017/18, 458,490 international students a rise of 16,000 from the year before, and a rise of 20,000 from the year of the referendum. Although both EU and Non-EU numbers have grown, the biggest increase came from non-EU countries…

For the first time ever, the number of Chinese students studying in the UK has gone above 100,000, up from 95,000 last year. It’s worth remembering that even before the referendum, more non-EU students came to the UK to study than EU students, by a margin of 3:1…

 mdi-timer 1 February 2019 @ 10:43 1 Feb 2019 @ 10:43 mdi-twitter mdi-facebook mdi-whatsapp mdi-telegram mdi-linkedin mdi-email mdi-comment View Comments Students’ Union President Vows to “Paint Over” Historic War Memorial

The President of Southampton Students’ Union, Emily Dawes, has vowed to paint over a historic memorial to fallen students that sits in the University’s Senate Room. The Rothenstein Mural was painted in 1916 to as a memorial for students who left to serve in the First World War and never came back – almost a million young Brits were killed in the conflict. The mural depicts the unknown soldier receiving the degree he was never able to finish.

Dawes tweeted that the mural of “white men” needs to be taken down even if she had to “paint it over myself”. This isn’t even anything to do with the debate over ‘problematic’ historical figures, it’s a memorial to students who lost their lives…

UPDATE: Emily Dawes has issued a written apology, in the same style as the Southampton SU statement earlier today distancing itself from her comments.

Guido questions the sincerity of the apology and her intentions given it was deliberately timed for Armistice Day:

It makes you despair at the mindless inhumanity of the sentiment and the ignorance of the notion…

UPDATE: Emily Dawes has resigned as President as Southampton Students’ Union President. Read her full statement below:

“After careful consideration I’ve decided that it’s best if I step down from my role.

I sincerely apologise for the offence and disrespect caused by my earlier comments, which were misinformed. I acted impulsively and as such fully accept how careless and hurtful my words were.

I’ve had a wonderful time as President and am sad to be leaving. All my thanks go to everyone who has supported me throughout my Presidency, and I wish the team and the Union all the best.”

 mdi-timer 25 October 2018 @ 11:09 25 Oct 2018 @ 11:09 mdi-twitter mdi-facebook mdi-whatsapp mdi-telegram mdi-linkedin mdi-email mdi-comment View Comments Previous Page Next Page