Seven weeks ago I was elected as the next National Secretary of NUS. After a convincing victory I have received a clear mandate from the membership that they are ready for the movement to be driven forward by a strong leadership that will continue to reform whilst also uniting on our key principles and commonalities.

I would like to thank everyone who campaigned, supported, never slept, hotel dropped at 5am throughout National conference. You truly are some of the most dedicated and important members of the student community not mentioning principled individuals who are happy to stick your necks on the line for those you want to lead this organisation.

I'm proud that I stuck my neck out on the line, proud that I made my decision for all the positions and stuck by them. Conference was tough, tougher this year than I've seen for many. Heated debates on Hizb ut Tahir, Coke, NUS Extra and Education Funding to mention a few.

I'm proud to say that I voted for anti-racism/Fascism, proud that I delivered a vote to continue supporting free education policy, prouder still that I voted for a financially secure National Union but most of all proud of myself that I withheld disgusting intimidation, vile verbal attacks and physical threats to support the labour movement. As I said, conference wasn't easy but I can sleep at night with a clear mind that I along with many of my colleagues fought for what we believed in, a stronger, principled and political National Union for the future.

I've debated for some time whether to go into detail about the elections at conference. In fact, I've written about 15 blogs about it so far. But while its never productive to go over old ground, there's a few things I must say.

Elections don’t start and end in March, it’s a long, emotionally draining process, with extreme highs and lows, ridiculous paranoia and copious amounts of ridiculous lies and rumours. One of those rumours I would like to address now.

In around the time that nominations closed, a select few of individuals whose identities are unknown to me, went around saying that I was telling student officers that a candidate against me in my election was homophobic. Never have I been so angry and disgusted that others were playing this frankly childish and disingenuous game that pitted student officer against student officer, and felt that for some reason this would not only turn my attentions to attacking a fellow candidate but also to push me into a state of panic and low self-esteem. And although they failed on the former, they came pretty close to succeeding in the latter.

As an LGBT activist I know what homophobia is, as someone who's faced it in family life, friendships and workplaces, I know what a bigot is and I know what a strong term "homophobia" is. I did not nor would I ever use such a word to describe someone lightly, nor would I use political point scoring in this way to attack a fellow candidate. I know the candidate in question is not homophobic, and although I've disagreed with them politically on a range of issues, I wouldn’t ever use that as a platform to elect myself. I know that candidate doesn't believe that I made those comments, and would just like to commend their integrity and patience during that period of time.

It's often about knowing how to ride the highs and lows in NUS. Lows came at lots of points during conference itself, largely due to groups offering groups different things, groups telling people what they wanted to hear. But the reality is, I'll never know the truth and nor do I care. I know who supported me unreservedly, even when their own elections and friendships were jeopardised. I believe the principled approach to elections has always been about openly supporting the best candidates regardless of friendships, deals to be done or whether they have supported you in the process - and that what I did this year.

I think that’s all there is to be said. This years NEC have been nothing short of brilliant, a collection of extremely talented individuals. Both inside and out of the people I align to, I respect every single one of them. For those that are leaving, I'd like to say a particular thanks to Mel Ward, Jo Salmon, Daniel Randall and Pete Leary, Officers that have inspired and taught me so much- you'll be missed by many. As for this year, I think you've elected a thoroughly decent and exceptional set of officers, from the block to Liberation - its going to be a tough year, but I can rest easy knowing who conference(s) have elected.

Congratulations to Gemma Tumelty, Joe Rukin, Wes Streeting, Veronica King, Ellie Russell, James Alexander, Alex Kemp, Kat Stark, Jamie McKindo as well as all the block members and other liberation officers elected - I look forward to working with you next year.

Stephen x

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