Gemma Tumelty (born 20 October 1980, Somerset) was the President of the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom (NUS) until 2008. She was the NUS National Secretary for 2005 to 2006, and a member of its National Executive Committee for two years before that.
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She comes from Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire. A graduate of Liverpool John Moores University, she was previously Women's Officer and then Vice President Welfare in Liverpool Students' Union. At LJMU, she studied Applied Psychology, receiving a 2:1 degree in 2005. She studied one year of sociology previously. She was elected as National Secretary of the NUS in April 2005 at the NUS Conference in Blackpool.
Tumelty was first elected in March 2006, being the first NUS president from a post 1992 university. Although she is a member of the Labour Party she was not a candidate of its student wing, Labour Students, and ran for President with the description independent. She is part of the Organised Independents faction. She beat Pav Akhtar, the first Muslim candidate for President of the NUS and another member of the Labour Party who ran as an independent, in the final round. There were five other candidates, including a member of the Education Not for Sale campaign, candidates from Conservative Future and Liberal Democrat Youth and Students, and two more independents.
In 2006, Tumelty led the NUS in signing an accord with the Trades Union Congress (TUC). Motivated by the increasing number of students who are taking-up employment to fund their education, the agreement will see the NUS and TUC working together to encourage students to join a trade union.[1]
Tumelty was re-elected on 28 March 2007 and served a full term until July 2008 when she was succeeded by Labour Students's Wes Streeting. Her opponents in 2007 were Sofie Buckland, a member of Education Not for Sale and an officer on the NUS National Executive, and Rob Owen, a member of RESPECT and General Secretary of the University of Manchester Students' Union.
On 11 March 2008 it was reported by the National Student that Tumelty was engaged in 'dirty games',[2] in a deal which would ensure the Organised Independents winning the position of Vice-President Higher Education in return for not fielding a candidate against Labour Students's Wes Streeting.
She wrote a weekly blog for the Education section of The Guardian. In 2006 she became the first NUS president to address the TUC Conference.
Upon leaving NUS, Tumelty joined Million+, a university think tank representing former polytechnic universities as Press and Public Affairs Manager. She also served as a co-opted member of the management committee of Compass - a centre left pressure group.
Gemma Tumelty currently works for the international department of the TUC and is married to Dan Ashley, a senior press official at the University and College Union.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Kat Fletcher |
President of the National Union of Students 2006-2008 |
Succeeded by Wes Streeting |
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