Ellie King elected as new Chair of SU Student Council

Ellie King has been elected as the new Chair of the Student Union’s (SU) Student Council following an online vote that closed on 19 June. Emma Worrall was elected as Deputy Chair.

Officially, the Student Council is the main body for implementing and overseeing Warwick SU Policy, Regulations and Principles.

In practice, the Council meets twice a term; it is best known for deciding whether motions can be voted on by all students at SU Referenda.

Council also receives reports from Officers, Exec Chairs, and Warwick’s NUS Delegates – providing an opportunity for students to ask questions.

Whilst only Council members may vote, all students are entitled to attend Council meetings.

The election of Chair and Deputy Chair is done by Super Council, comprised of all the 68 voting members of the Student Council and the SU Exec Committees (for Democracy, Development, Welfare, Education, Sports, Societies, Postgraduates, and Liberation).

The vote was originally scheduled to take place in the last Student Council meeting of the year on 12 June.

Unfortunately, insufficient members of Super Council attended in person, so quorum was not reached. After the speeches, the vote was moved to an online election.

We represent different political opinions so I hope together we’ll be able to show the SU diversity and openness.
Emma Worrall

A total of four students put themselves forward for Chair of Council – Tom Jepson, Ellie King, Sheikh Umair Jamal, and Ptolemy Banks. Two students also put their names forward for Deputy Chair of Council – Emma Worrall and Ptolemy Banks.

Ellie King told the Boar that she: “looked forward to working with Michael [the SU’s new Development and Democracy Officer], Emma and the rest of the Democracy Team next year”. Emma Worrall expressed agreement – adding she was “very excited and humbled” to be elected as Deputy Chair.

Regarding the year ahead, Ellie King underlined her priority: “to encourage more students to engage with SU elections and democracy”. Ellie also thanked Nicole Chan for being “an inspiration” for the last two years in her role as Chair.

Emma Worrall stated that: “We represent different political opinions so I hope together we’ll be able to show the SU diversity and openness.”

Like Ellie, Emma wishes to increase student involvement, telling the Boar: “hopefully next year we’ll continue to run ASMs (All Student Meetings) and Student Council to a high standard and I hope to get as many students as possible involved in the process, particularly in referenda and ASMs”.