Organised Independents

The Organised Independents (often abbreviated to OI) are a grouping within the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom.

The group is made up of candidates for National Executive Committee posts, all standing on an "independent" label, and their supporters.[1] As such, the OIs have been defined as an interest group as opposed to a faction; this originates from the idea that they are apolitical or moderate, either simply as a group of sabbatical officers seeking to support one another, or as proponents of a membership-focused national ideology. Commentator Rachel Brooks writes that the OIs also have a "shared concern to minimise the influence of 'the left'," which she defines as centring around the factions AWL, SBL, and NCAFC.[1]

In 2017, after widespread discontentment with NUS under the leadership of Malia Bouattia, a slate of OI-backed candidates won five of the six full-time officer positions; this included the role of President, in which Shakira Martin, the union's vice-president for further education, defeated Bouattia, receiving 56% of the vote.[2][3]

History

Background

As a result of the group's broad definition, a lot of controversy has raged over whether such a faction exists. Many NUS commentators are in agreement that such an organised grouping is clearly in existence. Various names were in use, including the "Webberites" (after Simon Webber, an early leading figure), the "Owainites" (after Owain James, NUS President 2000-2002), the "Independent Faction" before the term "Organised Independents" took hold. The phrase "independent student officers" was also prominent on many manifestos. Increasingly members of the grouping no longer dispute their existence and the label. However, there is still much dispute over whether or not individual independents are aligned to the OIs or not.

1990-2002

The OIs emerged as a group of independent candidates and NEC members who gave support to the Labour Students-dominated NUS leadership of the 1990s. Several admitted to being "members of the Labour Party but not Labour Students," a distinction that some found difficult to understand. Further confusion reigned as some OIs appeared to be members of Labour Students at the ordinary level. The group became increasingly prominent in 2000 when Labour Students declined to put up a candidate to defend the Presidency of the NUS, a position which they had previously held for eighteen years, but instead backed Owain James as an independent, who won the post and held it for the two years allowed under the constitution. Former NUS LGB officer Carli Harper-Pennan wrote that at this time, the OIs were "aligned with Labour Students", "organised with them", and had "the same agenda".[4]

2002-2010

The 2002 NUS elections saw the OIs and Labour Students fall out and run opposing candidates. In general the OIs defeated the Labour Students in all elections bar the Presidency, which was won by Mandy Telford. Subsequently, the OIs and Labour Students fluctuated between co-operation at times, but fierce opposition at others. It was in this 2004-6 period that the later-Mayor of Islington Kat Fletcher of CFE/AWL was elected President; Fletcher was the first since 1981 to be elected from a political slate clearly to the left of either Labour Students or the OIs. In recent years there has therefore been renewed confusion over the exact membership of the OIs, stemming from a series of notable factional shifts within the NUS by several individuals and the emergence of more than one group of independents who organise together.

In 2007, though, the position was clear, and the independents who described themselves within NUS formally as OIs were Gemma Tumelty (National President), Stephen Brown (National Secretary), Ama Uzowuru (Vice-President Welfare), Adam McNicholas (Block of 12). Tumelty and Brown both left their respective posts in June 2008.

The Organised Independents continued to be popular within the national movement. 2008 saw the appearance of the 'Dirty Games' deal, in which the OIs were reported to have been "handed the vice-president higher education position for Aaron Porter", in exchange for backing the later Labour MP Wes Streeting for President.[5] In the 2008 elections, Porter was elected, while Ama Uzowuru was re-elected as Vice-President (Welfare), and Ben Whittaker and Elizabeth Sommerville were elected onto the Block of 12. The Organised Independents were also in power in NUS Scotland, with Gurjit Singh holding Presidency in 2008. He was defeated in the following presidential election by Labour party member Liam Burns.

In 2009, Whittaker was elected as Vice President Welfare and Liz Williams (Liverpool Guild of Students) and Alice Bouquet (University of West England SU) were elected onto Block of 15 at National Conference. Katie Dalton was elected President of NUS Wales.

In 2010, Porter was elected as the 54th President of the National Union of Students. Whittaker was re-elected Vice President (Welfare). Peter Mercer and Ryan Wain were elected onto Block of 15. Katie Dalton was also re-elected President of NUS Wales.

2010-2017

In 2011, Peter Mercer was elected Vice-President Welfare following Ben Whittaker's two terms. Matthew East, two-term Anglia Ruskin Students' Union President, was elected onto the Block of 15. George-Konstantinos Charonis was elected as the NUS Postgraduate Taught Representative at the Postgraduate Conference.

The OIs were temporarily disbanded after this, until the 2017 National Conference. In 2013, however, Raechel Mattey and Colum McGuire were elected as VP Union Development and VP Welfare, respectively; they continued to campaign informally around moderate candidates and issues. Both were re-elected to serve a second term in 2014. Mattey grew unpopular, however; at the 2013 Union Development zone conference, she had refused to allow a NCAFC[6] member of her zone committee to enter the accountability session, and gained a reputation for being unaccountable and afraid of challenge.

In 2015, following Mattey, Richard Brooks was elected Vice President (Union Development).[7] Vonnie Sandlan and Fergal McFerran were also elected Presidents of NUS Scotland and NUS-USI, respectively.[8][9] In January 2017, Al Jazeera broadcast footage purporting to show that Brooks was involved in attempts to block the election of (and, later, discredit and remove) controversial President Malia Bouattia over allegations of antisemitism.[10] In response to Bouattia's election, students at Durham, Loughborough, Hull, Aberystwyth, Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester, Essex, York, King's College London, Nottingham, UWE, Leicester, Queen Mary University of London and Reading University had campaigned to disaffiliate from the NUS.[11][12] Lincoln, Newcastle, Hull and Loughborough all disaffiliated.[13][14][15]

2017-Present

After this widespread discontentment with NUS' direction, the 2017 National Conference saw a slate of OI-backed candidates win five of the six full-time officer positions.[2][3] In addition to this, several centrist motions passed, including democratic reforms designed to better engage students and students' unions, which were described as "the most comprehensive and wide-ranging structural reforms in NUS history".[16] WonkHE policy commentator Nona Buckley-Irvine wrote that with the "significant ideological shift from the hard left to more moderate candidates, sector bodies and universities will prepare themselves for a rethink in how to approach NUS going forward".[17]

References

  1. 1 2 Rachel Brooks (2016). Student Politics and Protest: International perspectives. Routledge. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-8203-3496-7. Archived from the original on April 30, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Topping, Alexandra; Marsh, Sarah (26 April 2017). "Divisive NUS president Malia Bouattia defeated in election". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  3. 1 2 Peake, Emili (28 April 2017). "Abortion rights, mental health and climate change amongst 20 motions passed at NUS Conference". The National Student. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  4. ↑ Rudebeck, Clare (3 April 2002). "It's tough at the top - and dirty". The Independent. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  5. ↑ Walker, Tom (11 March 2008). "“Dirty Games” - NUS presidential election stitch-up". The National Student. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  6. ↑ OpenDemocracy. Retrieved 01 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "Richard Brooks elected as NUS Vice President (Union Development)". NUS Connect. NUS Connect. April 22, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Fergal McFerran: NUS-USI President 2015-17". NUS-USI. NUS-USI. September 30, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  9. ↑ "The Hidden Links Between Candidates?: #NUSNC17". TheyWorkForUs. April 20, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Exclusive: Israel lobby infiltrates UK student movement". Al Jazeera. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  11. ↑ "Students threaten to split from NUS over new president". BBC News. 22 April 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  12. ↑ "Lincoln SU disaffiliates from National Union of Students". The Linc. 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2016-05-10.
  13. ↑ Slater, Tom. The backlash against the NUS has begun. The Spectator, 12 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  14. ↑ Ali, Aftab. "Hull University Union becomes latest to disaffiliate from National Union of Students". The Independent. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  15. ↑ Jackman, Josh. "Loughborough University students vote to split from NUS". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  16. ↑ Lapwood, George (29 April 2017). "The NUS Conference was an overwhelming success. So why the obsession with ‘jazz hands’?". The Student Newspaper. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  17. ↑ Nona Buckley-Irvine (27 April 2017). "New leaders, new approach: a watershed moment for NUS". Wonkhe.
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