It is no secret that for more than a decade, NUS’ members have been clamouring for change. The problems at your national union were well known; poorly managed, lacking clear direction, increasingly inaccessible to students, and with structures more adapted to 1922 than 2008, NUS has been failing to deliver on key issues.

Last year at Annual Conference, you once again asked for ‘far-reaching change.’
This time we have delivered.

In the months after Conference, students and their unions submitted hundreds of proposals about what you wanted from NUS. Out goes an unrepresentative National Executive Committee with only one FE position, out goes the National Council, out goes a system with precious little accountability, clarity and accessibility.

In comes a new set of structures with a clear division of responsibilities and roles, genuine accountability and above all, more room for students to get involved and set our agenda. A new Congress remains the highest decision-making body, Liberation campaigns get more support, FE gets more representatives, new zones ensure better policy and a student-led board harnesses expertise in fields such as law and finance.

We never claimed that the changes were perfect from the outset, which is why we have welcomed amendments, such as Extraordinary Conference stating that ordinary students should be elected not appointed to the Board.

We have worked long and hard to get this right, and today, I am proud to say that almost every democratic body in NUS believes that these changes are right.

In October last year, the review was overwhelmingly adopted by the NEC. At Extraordinary Conference in December, an unprecedented 900 delegated debated the review, before passing it with a two-thirds majority. National Council, the LGBT and disabled students campaigns have officially declared their support and last week the national women’s conference shot down a motion against the review.

There is always opposition to change and this is no exception. In this case, some are leading the battle for the status quo, accusing the review of being anti-democratic.

But the changes are your changes, you called for them, you designed them and you have driven them. For many of our members this is the last opportunity for NUS to shape up. As such, it is impossible to overstate the importance of the vote on governance at Annual Conference in April, where a two-thirds majority is again required.

We need a national union fit to win for students and students’ unions, and for this reason I urge those delegates to show the courage to choose change, because it is time that NUS delivered.

Gemma Tumelty, NUS National President.

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