Porter elected NUS president

Aaron Porter has been elected as the 54th President of the National Union of Students (NUS) at the organisation's national conference in Gateshead.

Mr Porter will succeed current NUS President Wes Streeting in June 2010 for an initial twelve month term having served for two years as NUS vice-president higher education.

Mr Porter studied English Literature at the University of Leicester and served as a sabbatical officer at the students’ union.

Speaking to The Journal, Mr Porter said: “I feel overjoyed and a little bit exhausted: it has been a draining conference, but incredibly enjoyable as well with some fantastic debates. I have a real sense of excitement and optimism about the year ahead.”

Previous NUS presidents include Justice Secretary Jack Straw, former Home Secretary Charles Clarke, and Trevor Phillips, head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.  

65 percent of delegates voted for Mr Porter in the first round of counting, defeating current NUS black students’ officer, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, 27 percent, and Chris Marks, vice president education at Hull University Students’ Union, four percent.

Current NUS President Wes Streeting said: “Aaron’s election vindicates the long journey NUS has taken to reform our democratic structures and our higher education funding policy. We have fought the battle to become a credible voice and Aaron is the right person to deal with the challenges students face in the coming year.”

Other key elections include the position of vice-president higher education, which Usman Ali won in a close race. Shane Chowen was returned to the position of vice-president further education for a second year.

NUS has more than 600 members including Edinburgh's five higher and three further education institutions. Over 7 million students are represented by the organisation across the UK.

Student unions pay an annual membership fee of £40,000 to NUS.