Controversial former University of Birmingham student Malia Bouattia has been elected NUS President at the union's national conference in Brighton.
UoB student Malia Bouattia was elected as President of the National Union of Students (NUS) at their national conference in Brighton last week, making her the first Muslim and woman of colour to hold the position in the union's 94 year history. She unseated incumbent Megan Dunn by 44 votes, with 372 votes to Dunn’s 328. Adil Waraich of De Montfort University received 9 votes. Bouattia has previously been officer for the NUS Black Students Campaign, one of the union’s liberation campaigns representing students of African, Asian, Arab and Caribbean students, for the last 2 years.
Bouattia’s presidency manifesto included campaigning for better Mental Health provision on campuses, produce more resources for inclusivity for LGBT+ and disabled students, in addition to establishing regional networks between student unions to strengthen their presence and tackle issues on campus and locally.
Bouattia's victory has proven highly controversial. She has received criticism for having previously described the University of Birmingham as ‘something of a Zionist outpost’ and commenting on ‘Zionist-led media’, leading to accusations of anti-semitism. She was also accused of sympathising with the Islamic State group for not supporting an NUS motion to condemn IS because she believed it was originally worded to condemn all Muslims, not just extremists. Bouattia has since sent an open letter from more than 50 presidents of University Jewish societies, including the University of Birmingham’s JSOC, attempting to alleviate their concerns over her views and candidacy.
