List of presidents of the National Union of Students (United Kingdom)

Last updated January 29, 2025

This article lists all Presidents of the National Union of Students in the United Kingdom.

Presidents^[1]
#	Years of office	Name	Institution(s)	Faction
1	1922	Ivison S Macadam	King's College London
2	1922–23	A Gordon Bagnall	University of Oxford
3	1923–24	Ralph Nunn May	University of Birmingham
4	1924–25	F G G Carr	University of Cambridge
5	1925–26	W J Langford	University of Reading
6	1926–27	J E Meredith	University of Wales, Bangor
7	1927–29	Frank Ongley Darvall	University of Reading
8	1929–30	Sam Cohen	University College, Cardiff
9	1930–31	H Trevor Lloyd	University of Bristol
10	1931–33	Denis Follows	University of London and University of Nottingham
11	1933–34	Charles G Gilmore	University of London
12	1934–36	Lincoln Ralphs	University of Sheffield
13	1936–38	F Fraser Milne	University of London
14	1938–39	R R S Ward	University of Sheffield
15	1939–40	Brian Simon	University of Cambridge and University of London
16	1940–41	P A H Rivett	University of Leeds
17	1941–42	Sydney Checkland	University of Birmingham
18	1942–44	Jack T Allanson	University of Manchester
19	1944–46	A T James	University of London
20	1946–47	G Mcleavy	University of Leeds
21	1947–49	W Bonney Rust	University of London
22	1949–51	Stanley K Jenkins	University College, Cardiff
23	1951–52	John M Thompson	University of Manchester
24	1952–54	Fred Jarvis	University of Oxford
25	1954–56	Frank H Copplestone	University of Nottingham
26	1956–58	Roland Freeman	University of London
27	1958–60	Dennis J Grennan	University of Southampton
28	1960–62	Gwyn Morgan	University of Wales, Aberystwyth
29	1962–64	Aneurin Hughes	University of Wales, Aberystwyth
30	1964–66	T William Savage	Queen's University of Belfast
31	1966–68	T Geoff Martin	Queen's University of Belfast
32	1968–69	Trevor Fisk	University of London
33	1969–71	Jack Straw	University of Leeds	Radical Student Alliance
34	1971–73	Digby Jacks	University of London	Left Caucus (CPGB)
35	1973–75	John Randall	University of York	Independent
36	1975–77	Charles Clarke	University of Cambridge	Broad Left (NOLS)
37	1977–78	Sue Slipman	University of Wales, Lampeter	Broad Left (CPGB)
38	1978–80	Trevor Phillips	Imperial College London	Broad Left (non-aligned)
39	1980–82	David Aaronovitch	University of Manchester	Broad Left (Communist Party of Great Britain CPGB)
40	1982–84	Neil Stewart	University of Aberdeen	NOLS (now Labour Students)
41	1984–86	Phil Woolas	University of Manchester	NOLS (now Labour Students)
42	1986–88	Vicky Phillips	University of East Anglia	NOLS (now Labour Students)
43	1988–90	Maeve Sherlock	University of Liverpool	NOLS (now Labour Students)
44	1990–92	Stephen Twigg	University of Oxford	NOLS (now Labour Students)
45	1992–94	Lorna Fitzsimons	Loughborough College	NOLS (now Labour Students)
46	1994–96	Jim Murphy	University of Strathclyde	Labour Students
47	1996–98	Douglas Trainer	University of Strathclyde	Labour Students
48	1998–2000	Andrew Pakes	University of Hull	Labour Students
49	2000–02	Owain James	University of Warwick	Organised Independent
50	2002–04	Mandy Telford	University of Strathclyde	Labour Students
51	2004–06	Kat Fletcher	Sheffield College and University of Leeds	Campaign for Free Education (2004–05) Independent (2005–06)
52	2006–08	Gemma Tumelty	Liverpool John Moores University	Organised Independent
53	2008–10	Wes Streeting	University of Cambridge	Labour Students
54	2010–11	Aaron Porter	University of Leicester	Organised Independent
55	2011–13	Liam Burns	Heriot-Watt University	Organised Independent
56	2013–15	Toni Pearce	Cornwall College	Organised Independent
57	2015–16	Megan Dunn	University of Aberdeen	Organised Independent
58	2016–17	Malia Bouattia ^[2]	University of Birmingham	Liberation Left
59	2017–19	Shakira Martin	Lewisham and Southwark College	Independent
60	2019–20	Zamzam Ibrahim	University of Salford	Liberation Left
61	2020–22	Larissa Kennedy	University of Warwick	Liberation Left
62	2022	Shaima Dallali^[3]^[4]^[5]	City, University of London	Liberation Left
63	2024–26	Amira Campbell^[6]	University of Birmingham	Labour Students

Related Research Articles

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The Organised Independents are a grouping within the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom.

Gemma Tumelty is known for being a British Labour Party and Trades Union activist, who was President of the National Union of Students (NUS) from 2006 to 2008. She was the NUS National Secretary from 2005 to 2006, and a member of its National Executive Committee for two years before that.

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Aaron Ross Porter is a board director and trustee and a former president of the National Union of Students in the United Kingdom; he was elected with a 65% majority and took office in June 2010 for one year.

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Toni Pearce is a former President of the National Union of Students in the United Kingdom. Pearce was elected at the 2013 NUS National Conference in April 2013 and re-elected April 2014.

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Malia Mazia Bouattia is the former president of the National Union of Students (NUS) of the United Kingdom, elected at the National Conference in April 2016. She was the first female Black British and Muslim leader of the NUS. She attended the University of Birmingham. In March 2017, she was defeated in her attempt to run for a second term in office by NUS Vice-president Shakira Martin.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shakira Martin (NUS president)</span> British student politician

Shakira Martin is a British student politician and former president of the National Union of Students.

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Larissa Kennedy is a student politician who was President of the UK National Union of Students 2020–2022, succeeding Zamzam Ibrahim. She was the first president elected via online ballot, defeating six other candidates. She served a two-year term to oversee the NUS's three-year plan to financially overhaul its organisation following a £3 million shortfall in 2018. She is also a trustee of Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK), an educational charity formed in response to the climate emergency and ecological crisis.

References

↑ National Union of Students, "Presidents of NUS"
↑ "National Union of Students elects Malia Bouattia as president". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
↑ Bloch, Ben (1 November 2022). "Shaima Dallali sacked as NUS president after antisemitism investigation". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 1 November 2022.
↑ Hugh Jones; Caredig ap Tomos; Michael Hennessey (16 September 2022). "NUS president suspended amid antisemitism row". Varsity . Retrieved 16 September 2022.
↑ "NUS president dismissed over anti-Semitism claims". BBC News . 1 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
↑ "NUS announces newly elected Officer team". National Union of Students. 12 April 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.

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[1] National Union of Students, "Presidents of NUS"

[2] "National Union of Students elects Malia Bouattia as president". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-04-20.

[Bloch-3] Bloch, Ben (1 November 2022). "Shaima Dallali sacked as NUS president after antisemitism investigation". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 1 November 2022.

[4] Hugh Jones; Caredig ap Tomos; Michael Hennessey (16 September 2022). "NUS president suspended amid antisemitism row". Varsity . Retrieved 16 September 2022.

[5] "NUS president dismissed over anti-Semitism claims". BBC News . 1 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.

[6] "NUS announces newly elected Officer team". National Union of Students. 12 April 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.

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v t e National Union of Students (United Kingdom)
Presidents	Megan Dunn (2015–16) Malia Bouattia (2016–17) Shakira Martin (2017–19) Zamzam Ibrahim (2019–20) Larissa Kennedy (2020–22) List of presidents
Nations	Scotland Northern Ireland Wales
Liberation campaigns	LGBT+ Disabled Black Women
Members	Non-affiliated unions
Groupings	Labour Students (NOLS) Student Left Network (formerly National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts) SWSS Liberation Left (formerly Student Broad Left) Organised Independents SNP Students Young Liberals Conservative Future Young Greens (YGEW) Scottish Young Greens Young Independence (UKIP)
Structure	Governance