Every year that I have been on the NEC I have been thinking about this speech and have probably said countless times “that’s one for the leaving speech” of course when I have finally got round to putting pen to paper after 5 years on the NEC I have forgotten much of what I wanted to say at different points. That’s probably a good thing because my 5 years on the NEC have had massive highs and massive lows and massive rows some of which you will not be interested in, in the slightest. Its always difficult when you have just had a really hard four days in Blackpool to not just focus on the last few weeks but think about the whole time you have been involved.

It’s become tradition over the years to lay into individuals, groups and politics in leaving speeches, they have on occasion been bitter and often quite vile, when listening you wince and cringe about the verbal bashing being delivered. I am not really going to do that, not much anyway! Because I have little I am particularly bitter about, in fact I am and will be eternally grateful for my opportunity to lead this National Union, I am a changed person, stronger, tougher, more experienced, more assertive and more confident. I have you to thank for that, you to thank for having faith in me every time I have put myself up for election to this conference. Unlike many I have never considered it my divine right to run NUS or that I was destined to sit in the top seat, in fact I was utterly astounded to be elected to the block of twelve and had to be talked into running for President.

The student movement is life changing, I know that sounds quite a grand statement to make but I genuinely believe it. What really galls me though is how we attack each other, don’t get me wrong I’m as guilty as everyone else at times, but it is so damaging not only to the National Union but to peoples health, well being and their ability to do the job they were elected to do. The culture of this is far better now than it was, I’m sure some of you will have been fed the myths of NUS times gone by, women’s officers locked in cupboards in Holloway Road, axes being left in peoples desks and NEC members leaving halfway through their terms in office with severe mental health problems, having been bullied out of NUS and believe me that extreme behaviour has stopped. But the student movement still seriously needs to take a long hard look at itself and how it treats each other in students’ unions and how it treats it elected officers. One thing I have always hated, that I have been vocal in my opposition to is educationet.org – it is here that I have seen the most vicious, thoughtless attacks on people, particularly the NEC. Sexism, disablism, racism, homophobia all quite rampant and all written with the convenience of anonymity.

Your actions
Ednet needs shutting down, you need to take a stand – those that use it to anonymously attack each other and the NEC, think about your actions. There are now so many other ways to hold political discussion and to air your views, facebook has allowed us to disagree online but without the guise of anonymity, this has ensured it is about genuine political disagreements not scathing personal attacks.

What people fail to remember is that the NEC are not infallible, are not devoid of feeling and are not there for certain individuals or groups to throw relentless personal insults and attacks at and expect them to just roll off them, like oil off a ducks back. This just isn’t true – it hurts. Just look at that stage, look at the NEC and ask them, really talk to them, as if they were real people, about them – about their back ground, their proudest moment, the hurdles they have overcome, their political views and why they hold them, you will see and understand that actually they are real people that have overcome real issues that are genuinely trying to do their best for students and for society, you may not agree with them or their methods, but they don’t deserve all the personal attacks that are thrown at them.

When standing for national president for the first time the sexism that I faced shocked me, I was expecting attacks after all I had been on the NEC for a few years, but insinuating that I slept my way around the country for votes, that I was just a blonde (at the time) with a pretty smile that had no substance, that I would just be a mouth piece for the male full time officers, that I would not be tough enough to make the difficult decisions, that I was vacuous with no politics in tight clothing is totally unacceptable. Genuine political criticism I can take on the chin – and have done. But sexism dressed up as if it were genuine political criticism has to stop in our movement – we can’t talk about women’s equality then systematically and consistently deride any woman who is brave enough to stand for election. People actually make up fake facebook profiles to send me sexist abuse, I get phone calls and text messages at 2 or 3 in the morning either calling me a slag, slut, dirty bitch or sometimes worse. I get abusive emails, threatening ones and ones filled with sexual abuse. It has got to stop. It has not just happened to me it has happened in some way to every woman that I have seen stand for election in NUS and in every students union where women try to stand up and be counted. That’s why I am so proud to be a woman leader of this National Union. I hope it has given others the confidence to do the same in their unions. I am the third woman in a row to be NUS President but only the 7th woman since 1922 – that is shameful – Conference please keep electing women at the top!

Liverpool
A student at Liverpool John Moores, a course rep, women’s officer and vice president welfare – then the Government announced their intention to introduce variable fees, this got me more engaged in the debates surrounding our education and having to go back to my study after taking a year out to be a sabb in my union I wanted to still be involved, wanted to have an impact in the fight against variable fees, so stood for the block of twelve. I had no idea what this entailed and I was, ironically, vehemently anti-faction – and my manifesto made that very clear! How times changed….

I only really got involved with the Organised Independents after my election to the block and after women’s conference that year – I had previously been counselled to not touch them with a barge pole by another independent group on the NEC! (Again nothing ever changes). In the March, an officer I met at Convention, Women’s conference and observed the NEC with after we were elected from our respective regions, ran for National Women’s Officer, and despite ALL the odds being stacked against her – she won, by one vote. Hannah Essex, now my housemate and one of my best friends, changed the women’s campaign for the better ensuring it was relevant to women like me and never as vile as it was the first time I went to women’s conference. The only faction that truly supported this incredibly independent, talented and political woman, wanting to change things in NUS for the better was the Organised Independents and in particular Penny Hollings. By that point I was running for the block of twelve and Hannah got me more involved.

I never thought I would end up running a faction but I am proud of my faction, what we do and what we have achieved for NUS and the student movement.

Bit of a mystery
People always say that my faction is cloak and dagger, a bit of a mystery, that we are more organised than independent, that we are apolitical or right wing – or both, that no-one knows who is in the OI’s and that we stitch things up with Labour Students. Independents in NUS never use to exist, so many unaligned but political student officers and students had no way of getting involved, no way of winning an election, felt isolated and disengaged, so independents started working together to get motions discussed, on elections and to ensure NUS worked on concerns of students and students’ unions as well as wider politics. And it’s continued since then. My faction are generally hardworking, passionate, political individuals who genuinely care about NUS and the student movement, we deliver continually for students and for students’ unions and have always done so. We have a true record of putting the needs of the membership first and have consistently championed their agenda for nus.

We have heard at this conference and in fact always hear about factions in NUS, how they deal on elections and motions, how they stitch things up, how they put their party first, or how they don’t really care about students or NUS and sometimes elements of this can be true. BUT- without factions you would have very little policy to debate at this conference, without factions you wouldn’t see the nuance of debate or the breadth of debate we see here and without factions you wouldn’t have seen the massive changes that have happened over the last few years.

It is not factions that are the problem – it is sometimes their behaviour that is. But people always organise together to get things done – be it in their unions when they stand on a slate or be it in NUS to push an agenda through or on elections and even if you got rid of factions, individuals would still work together. Independents who are not OI’s work together more than you would know – just because they are not branded OI doesn’t mean they don’t operate in the same way – you just don’t know about it. Labour Students, ENS and Student Respect are actually the only prominent factions that are consistently honest about how they organise and why they organise and for that I admire and respect them.

Labour students
My faction and I have had a love-hate relationship with Labour students over the years I have been involved. When I was first involved in my union and in NUS they were a nasty, self interested, bullying faction who have to claim responsibility for the same culture in nus. And they paid the price electorally in NUS – people had had enough. Whilst I had always voted labour in local and general elections, there was not a political party culture in my students union, no labour, lib dem or tory clubs – so the opportunity to be party political didn’t really arise at university. That’s why I am a labour party member but not a labour student, I was never involved in Labour students, and in any case I never wanted to be answerable to anyone outside the student movement. Many OI’s are labour party members because they held labour values but didn’t like the way labour students operated.

But over the last three years, Wes and the labour Students office have really changed, making their faction more in step with the membership and getting rid of the bullying, stitch up culture that had gone before. Labour students put their faith in me, both years and backed me for President, I’d like to thank Gareth Smith and Wes for that – I know how difficult that was after years of falling out and standing against each other. I have real respect for so many in Labour students and thank you for your support for me and for the changes in NUS. I know that Wes will not, as many will accuse him of over the next year, pander to the Government, its an easy slur to throw at him and one he is used to, but one I have seen no evidence of over the last two years. My leaving advice to Wes is to not let that culture slip back in NUS – we have worked so hard to eradicate it and you have been part of that.

I have to say that having worked with and against Labour students at various points over the years – NUS works better when independents (with good politics, which many do not have) not just OIs, but all independents and labour students work together, we get more done, NUS is less divided and the membership are more involved. Because actually, we are the progressives in NUS, the ones who put the membership first, the ones that turn up to affiliation referenda, the ones that actively roll out NUS campaigns, the ones that are at every NEC meeting, the ones that make the tough decisions. It makes sense that we work together.

OIs
I would like to thank all the past OIs, in particular Penny Hollings, Chris Weavers Julian Nicholds and Hannah Essex – without whom I would never have had the confidence in my own ability. Hannah got me involved and ended up being such a wonderful friend. In her leaving speech as VP Education she had very kind words for me, or at least I think she did, I, and conference, couldn’t really make out much of what she said due to the tears and sobbing. It is because of Hannah that I’m here and because of her I am a much better person too!

And the OIs whom I have been lucky enough to work with over the last few years, you are all incredibly talented individuals, who are loyal, supportive and dedicated – Ross Renton, Dylan Williams, Andy Wilson, Martin Ings, Louise Sweeney, Dave Charlesworth, Ama Uzowuru, congratulations, Adam McNicholas, Daryn McCombe (a travesty you didn’t get on the block when other people did – they have done less than nothing this year and I know you would have worked tirelessly for students) Aaron Porter, congratulations, Ben Whittaker and Elizabeth Somerville our block candidates this year – fingers crossed for you, NUS will be lucky to have you, Lizzie Swarbrick, Hannah Bullivant and Alice Bouquet. Noticeably absent from that list are three people who I could never just list, Stephen Brown, Jodie Tumelty and Jodie Woodward.

Outgoing national secretary
Stephen, our outgoing National Secretary, has been my rock over the last few years, he is unwaveringly loyal, even if we don’t agree, he will go out there and defend me to the hilt, he is incredibly talented and if he wanted to have run would have made a fantastic National President. But he didn’t want to, I’m sure he will tell you himself, he understandably wanted his life back. I am proud to call him one of my best friends as well as a colleague, someone who has continued to grow throughout his time in NUS and I know he will go on to do great things in the future, I know I will be there to see it. Stephen, thanks for everything.

Jodie Tumelty, my wonderful sister, and election organiser for the OIs. She coined the phrase “Tumeltys don’t lose” and do you know what, since her involvement, on the whole we haven’t – she was devastated by Daryn not getting on the block last year and took it so personally such is her dedication- in fact she is so talented that Wes tried to steal her for Labour Students! I can count on her for everything and I hope she could say the same of me. She has put up with some shit for being my sister and I apologise to her for that. She is current President of Leeds Met and like me faced massive financial crises at her union which she had to sort. She is brave, kind and talented and will go on to be a fabulous primary school teacher. Lots of people in her life underestimate her and undervalue her due to her kindness and loyalty – she doesn’t deserve that at all. Jodie – you are so brilliant, thank you for your personal and political support during my time in NUS.

Jodie Woodward, my best friend. Well let’s be honest mate, you got me through my degree when I spent all my time doing NUS stuff! You have been there throughout my time in my Union and in NUS, going above and beyond the normal friend duty. You have spent the last three years coming to NUS Conference, working through the night all week most of the time for candidates you have only just met, dealing with me and Stephen at our most stressed and every year missing your birthday because it falls over conference time. You never had to do all of that and I can’t tell you how much I love you for it. I know you cant wait for Stephen and I to leave because you know first hand how much of a drain it is on our lives and as a result your life and plus you get your birthday back. Thank you for all you support, for me, for Stephen and for the OIs! Also thank you for keeping me sane outside of NUS – knowing when I needed to go out and get absolutely hammered. Sorry I have sometimes been a shit friend and let you down at important times due to NUS being so all consuming.

Right – gushing thank yous part one out of the way.

Proud of where we are
Its not secret that this has been a tough 18 months for NUS – despite the new constitution falling by such a small margin I am so proud of where we are now. Coming into office and realising that we were careering toward a 1.4million pound deficit, realising more than ever that the membership were utterly disengaged from NUS, disaffiliations all over the place, unions really unhappy with what NUS were doing with their cash, we have changed that, sorting out the finances, sorting out member relations and getting wins for students. As for the Governance vote, I have no idea what to say – I am absolutely gutted. (Went off script, cant remember what I said!)

So on to the future - I know that Wes will do an amazing job leading you in the battle for a fairer funding system, in ensuring NUS keeps getting better and keeps winning for students. I backed Wes wholeheartedly for President, he has been a hardworking, intelligent, dedicated VP Education who has been an amazing support for me, I am so pleased to call him my friend and so happy to hand over to him to finish what we started together. I will miss him a lot and wish him all the luck in the world going forward. At this point then I suppose I had better address some of the rumour, innuendo and attacks that Wes and I have faced in the run up to this election. I backed Wes because he is the RIGHT PERSON for the job, yes I did as was stated in some national student rag, “go bananas” when I knew Ciaran was running, that was not because it would effect Wes’s chances of winning because we had cooked up some “sort of deal”, but because Ciaran had done little on the NEC all year, content to take his 270 quid every month and do NOTHING for NUS all year, I was kind of offended that after the two years we had been through he thought he could comment on all we have achieved when he has not been around. So for the record, my faction had no candidate for President, Stephen as I said didn’t want it, and the labour students had no candidate for VP HE, find me these mysterious candidates from either faction whom we have “done over” to orchestrate this “deal” and I would begin to see why people may think there was one. The story run on the front page of the National Student about this supposed dirty deal was riddled with inaccuracies, apparently I went to Labour students political weekend to announce said deal – but I was actually at the disabled students committee, the sound of music and then in primrose hill and have produced evidence to back this up – apparently that is not enough for the national student – and they continued to run the lies they printed. So with the record well and truly set there – I will move on.

Tough and lonely
Being NUS President is a tough and often lonely job, you are constantly pulled in all directions, there are so many issues to work on and constant demands on your time, having got through the other end of a tough two years I know I couldn’t have done it without the support of most of the National Executive committees that I have worked with, but more specifically the senior management team officers who have been so strong and have had the backbone to take the difficult decisions that so many of our predecessors didn’t. Ellie Russell, quite possibly the most talented officer I have ever worked with, Veronica King, Dave Lewis, Ama Uzowuru, Beth Walker, Stephen Brown and of course Wes. To the liberation officers who have really heralded a new way of working in and for NUS this yea, Kat Stark, Alex Kemp, and Scott Cuthbertson and Claire Anderson – you have showed real leadership this year and taken responsibility for your national union and its future, thank you. You can never achieve anything on your own – these officers leadership showed real leadership and a will to change NUS for the better.

Dave Lewis though – what a legend. He is truly hard working, truly dedicated and a real support to me, plus his laugh is AWESOME. I will miss him.

Leadership is not something that is easy, sometimes you cant know for sure that what you are doing is right, but the other option is inertia and decline. The support I have had from students’ unions during the last two years has been incredible, these students’ unions have shown real faith in my leadership and have also shown real leadership themselves to sort NUS out for the better. Your support on Governance, your patience whilst we were restructuring and your commitment to helping the NEC do the right thing has been invaluable – NUS is more that the building in Camden, it is you and all your members and you have ensured NUS continues in the future. You are too many to mention, many sat here in this room – I hope you know who you are.

Supporting
Others on the NEC however, have not shown leadership on the changes we have discussed this conference, not just the ones who opposed the changes but the ones that were meant to be supporting it. They have not worked hard, not shown leadership, flip flopped around (so much so that some in Respect though they were “neutral” on the issue), they have focussed solely on their own elections, this has been entirely selfish but has backfired – it is down in your hands to change NUS. I have a message to them – leadership means sticking your head above the parapet, nailing your colours to the mast and doing the graft and the right thing – do not stand on a platform of change and expect others to do it for you. Good luck next year – you have a long way to go before I could call you a strong leader.

So, the staff of NUS. First, a big huge thank you to Matt Hyde our Chief Executive. Matt joined NUS as the Deputy National Director and ended up at the helm within a few months, it is his talent and vision that has moved NUS on, his energy and ability to take the tough decisions that has been so inspiring to all those that work with him. The relationship between a president and their general manager or chief exec is so important for success and I have been lucky to work with him. All the staff at NUS are so dedicated to the success of the organisation and if I were to thank all of them individually we would be here until Monday, so I am going to name a few individuals that have really personally supported me and helped me achieve over the last three years as a full timer. Jim Dickenson – an amazing source of advice and guidance, Vic Langer – thank you for your emotional support and dedication, Vic is such a strong woman and really knows what it is like in this movement for women, her support for me has been incredible and I thank her for that. Graeme Wise – for your immense insight and your talent for the written word and Jenna Khalfan – now left NUS but in my first few months really helped me rise to the challenge of leading NUS. These staff and many others really know that for NUS to succeed the elected officers have to succeed and they do everything in their power to make that happen.

To all the staff that have helped with the governance review process – thank you.

Staff
To all the staff that have been understanding and patient during the restructure, I know how difficult and painful that was for all of us – thank you. And to all the staff that have worked above and beyond their duty to help NUS and its NEC over the years – thank you.

To the left in NUS, you have been too busy deriding me for everything to realise that so many of the issues that you care about and campaign on are the same as me – I’m the president that has brought NUS and the Trade Union movement closer together through the historic protocol agreement with the TUC, I’m the President that has supported you on Venezuela, Justice for Colombia, and anti-trident replacement amongst other things and I’m the President that has not blocked you, not refused you expenses, not stopped you working on the issues that matter to you. Yes we don’t agree on everything, most things in fact – but you don’t seem to know who your real enemies are, what does it achieve by calling me right wing/a racist/an islamophobe/a war monger/a sell out? Wouldn’t you be better focusing on people who are really all of those things? How does it help you to oppose everything all of the time, just for the sake of it. Until you start taking responsibility for things like this within NUS you will never be taken seriously by most people in this movement.

Occupy and divide
And on the topic that seems to occupy and divide the left more than any other, Israel and Palestine I have a couple of things to say. Whether on one side or the other the death toll keeps rising, one human life lost is a life lost – whether that be an Israeli life or a Palestinian life – it is human life that is suffering, humanity that is being forgotten, children’s lives that are being lost and more so than ever hope is lost. The actions of the Israeli state are indefensible on many occasions – yet people continue to do so. But the actions of terrorists are equally indefensible – yet people continue to defend them and even invite them onto platforms to speak for Palestine. Having been to Israel and Palestine, the views of people here are more extreme on both sides than they are actually in Palestine or Israel – this is so unhelpful to people who want a solution – I urge the student movement to have any sort of debate on this issue responsibly – what is the point of stirring up hurt and ensuring people are isolated from their unions or their national union.

At this point another thank you seems appropriate - to the Union of Jewish students and the organisers I have worked with over the years Danny Stone, Mitch Simmons and Yair Zivan – thank you for your support and to Jess Kosmin, Sam Lebens and Daniel Rosenstone dedicated and hard working members of the national executive who have taught me so much. Thank you for helping to talk me into running for President and for your unwavering support in my elections and on the things I have wanted to achieve, most recently on Governance – I hope I have not let you down either.

Next?
So, to the question that I have been asked the most in the last six months – what’s next? Don’t be offended, but I want to get away from students, students’ unions and education for a bit, I want to work for a charity or NGO on internationalism or international development and am applying for jobs right now. I am looking forward to leaving, starting a new challenge and actually getting away from the petty politics that hampers our movement. I am so grateful for the opportunity to lead NUS, but its now time for someone else to take it on.

I am looking forward to getting my evenings and weekends back, not being permanently tired, not eating vacuum packed curled sandwiches on the move, not staying in shit hotels, sleeping more, drinking less and starting some exercise. No one quite realises how awful NUS is for your lifestyle and your health. One thing I would say to the team – over the next few years please sort out the expenses and remuneration for your officers - I have wracked up so much debt on credit cards just surviving in NUS, it is not fair that doing our jobs costs us money. It is all consuming on your life, I can’t wait to see my friends more and my family – I can’t wait to not be seen to be too busy for the people I care about.

And on that note, there are a few more gushing thank yous to come. First my Mum and Mike, my dad, who have supported me more than you could ever imagine, not only to get through university but also throughout NUS, they are been so proud and supportive – even coming twice to Blackpool to watch my election. They have put up with invasions of the OIs three weekends a year and put up with not seeing me much, apart from on the TV! And secondly my boyfriend Dan, strangely I’m the second NUS president he has supported, having been the NUS Press officer for Mandy Telford during the top-up fees debate – he has now had to support me through my second year, putting up with me being away, phone calls late at night and early in the morning, coping with my stress and tiredness and tears. This last year has been easier thanks to your support and understanding and I will always appreciate it.

So, that’s it – obviously I have a few more months to work yet, but that is it for me at this conference – I have laughed, cried, screamed, shouted, celebrated and commiserated here and in some very strange way I will miss it but remember these few days in Blackpool is only the start of the year – the hard work is yet to come.

Good Luck and thanks.

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