BREAKING: Warwick votes to stay in NUS

The results of the Warwick Students’ Union (SU) policy referendum have been announced, and Warwick is to remain in the National Union of Students (NUS).

This follows a record turnout in an SU policy referendum, with over 10% of students voting.

The question was: “Should Warwick continue its affiliation with the National Union of Students?” for which an Emergency All Student Meeting was called after a petition with over 500 signatures calling for a vote was handed to Olly Rice, Democracy and Development Officer.

NUS vote result

63.4% voted “Yes” to continuing the affiliation with the NUS, 34.9% voted “No”, and 1.7% abstained.

This equates to 1561 votes in favour, 859 against, and 43 abstentions.

This means Warwick is joining the likes of Exeter in remaining affiliated with the NUS after a student vote, while the Universities of Lincoln and Newcastle have voted to leave.

In a statement, “Warwick says Yes to NUS” commented: “We’re so proud to say that after a hard week’s campaigning, Warwick students have voted YES to the NUS.

“With a 63.4% yes majority, we have a strong mandate to stay in the NUS and keep all the benefits that are so essential to our students.”

They added: “However, this does not mean the discussion is over. We know the NUS isn’t perfect, and we will be working with the No campaigners and with the student body to bring new policy to next year’s NUS conference to improve representation and address your concerns.”

Other Motions

All other motions were carried except the one in favour of sabotaging the National Student Survey, with 770 votes against versus 561 votes in favour. A further 672 students abstained from this vote.

The mental health motion, aiming to promote awareness, received a total of 1612 votes for, 97 against – the biggest majority of votes in favour of all the motions.

The lowest voted on motion, “Warwick against Human Rights Abuses – Boycott G4S” had a total of 910 votes, 331 against and 357 abstaining.

“Students Against TTIP” saw 657 in favour of the motion with 708 abstaining and 281 against. The policy on abstentions meant that this motion passed, despite having more students abstaining than voting in favour.

The motions on the EU referendum, with the SU supporting “Remain”, and “Warwick Against Anti-Semitism”, meanwhile, received a healthy number of votes in support, both reaching over 1000 in favour.