Left gains at NUS conference


Ian Pattison, Socialist Students national chair

Last year at the National Union of Students conference, support for free education passed by a whisker, overturning a decade of opposition. This year, 90% of delegates voted to back free education.

The right wing was not confident to challenge anti-austerity ideas. Unfortunately, bureaucratic manoeuvring by the leadership ensured conference did not plan any concrete action. Conference didn’t even discuss whether to call a national demonstration in the autumn.

The left won four of the five vice-president positions – the first time we’ve taken a majority in two decades. Labour Students, the entrenched right wing, lost every full-time officer position it went for.

Socialist Students member Ben Mayor, alongside Socialist Party Ireland member Courtney Robinson, stood for the national executive.