NUS votes in new president | NAS endorses candidate

Nas Andriopoulos ICU President publicly endorsed Tom Harwood for NUS President. The endorsement was given despite the fact that Imperial College Union is not part of the NUS but also despite Andriopoulos’ track record of avoiding any discussion of his political leanings, particularly his stance on Brexit. “As I have said on previous occasions, no member should be compelled to declare their private political beliefs or past votes as a public record.” Though it’s unclear where that leaves students involved in student politics.

Earlier last year Durham SU President Harwood ran a satirical campaign for NUS delegate which included gems such as using “NUS boycotts to destroy ISIS” and bringing down the government by means of “violent revolution.” He also ran the Students For Britain campaign during the EU referendum, encouraging students to vote for Brexit.

This year he ran for NUS president, with a campaign set against all the “silly things” the NUS has been up to over the years. Ultimately Harwood suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Shakira Martin. When confronted on Twitter Andriopoulos said: “Students need to have credibility in the eyes of the media and the government. Otherwise it is all too easy to give students a raw deal”.