Another contentious, and occasionally chaotic, OUSA Executive Election rounded off last Thursday. A crowded Main Common Room was read out to hear the results drop after two weeks of campaigning, and four days of voting. Cutting through all the gristle, Troy Gibbons won the headline battle of the election – and will be your President for 2027.
In total, around 2300 votes were cast. The amount of votes varies slightly by candidate based on who was ‘eligible’ to vote for each category – so for results we’ll use the percentages of total votes. OUSA uses a single transferable vote (STV) system, knocking out the candidate with the least number of first choice votes until someone has 50% or more of the votes.
Four candidates were vying for President – the most crowded field in many years. Troy just scraped through in the first round, snagging 50.85% of the votes. Second place went to Rosie Cruickshank, with 34.8% of the votes. Other challengers were 2026 Postgraduate Representative Fergus Parks with 9.39% of votes, and Lochlan Hanham with 5.69% of votes. This is a clear trend the President role is getting more competitive, after many years of sole candidates before 2025 – thank fuck #democracy.
Troy’s second in command will be Kamesha Jones, who scored a second term as Administrative Vice President. Kamesha’s only challenger was newcomer Sarah Al-Shanfari, who scored 30.84% of votes. Kamesha on the other hand scored 69.16% of votes (nice), cruising her way to a second term.
Next result on the lineup was the one-horse race for Finance and Strategy Officer – giddy up. Thankfully for Ella Courdet, her 2077 votes were no match for the 245 votes of no confidence (#destroyed).
Academic Representative was a three-way race between Niko Fay, Ben de Ruyter and Dominic Sarelius. It was a tight contest, with Niko falling just shy of the 50% threshold in round one – with 49.03% of votes. Last place candidate Dominic was removed with 17.5% of votes, and after preferences were redistributed, Niko scored 56.99% of votes. Ben also missed out on the role, with 43.01% of second round votes. Close – but no cigar.
One of the most competitive races of the election was for Welfare and Equity Representative. Sarah Al-Shanfari, Reuben Tait, Hamza Baalousha and Yuri Castañeda all passionately campaigned for the role, and it showed as three rounds of voting were required. Reuben was knocked out first, followed by Sarah. Ultimately, Yuri came out on top, scoring 55.62% of votes compared to Hamza’s 44.38%.
Political Representative was contested by Lochlan Hanhlan, Thomas Brocherie, and Connor Knights. Scoring 17.92% of votes, Lochlan was knocked out in the first round of voting. With two candidates left, Thomas trumped Connor with 52.54% of votes.
Another crowded field was for Clubs & Societies Representatives, with four candidates. Ella Grayson, Leila Daniels, Cheol Shin, and Dominic Sarelius were in a relatively tight race, requiring three rounds of preference distribution. Dominic was knocked out first on 7.72%, followed by Leila on 25.62% with three candidates left. The final showdown was between Ella and Cheol – with Ella coming on top with 63.27% of votes compared to Cheol’s 36.73%.
Another Executive member seeking a second term was Zoe Eckhoff, for Residential Representative. Her only challenger was Jacob Rush, who scored 23.04% of votes. Zoe was re-elected with 76.96% of votes, the biggest margin of the contested races. This rounds out Troy, Kamesha and Zoe as this year’s Exec members coming back for another year.
The last two results are for International and Postgraduate Representatives. These didn’t have the same 2000ish voter turnout as the other roles, as only final year students, postgrads, and international students are eligible to vote for these. Current Postgraduate Representative Fergus Parks scored 10.12% of votes in round one and was knocked out of contention, leaving Kristina Hames and Imogen Harris in round two. Kristina ended up on top with 55.28% of votes to Imogen’s 44.72%. For International Representative, voting was wrapped up in one round: Ilham Azman scored the role with 54.38% of votes. Allyson Tan missed out with 26.88% of votes, while Tim Podornicov obtained 18.75% of votes.
And just like that, another OUSA Executive has been elected. Whether the relentless chalking and social media posts annoyed you, or given you hope for the future – the students reckon this is the exec that will put in the hard yards for the next year. Just a note – the results are provisional pending any complaints needing to be investigated by the Returning Officer, Cam Fraser. However, Cam did say that no candidates have had points deducted due to complaints when he announced the results.
Good luck 2027 to the Executive. Just know that Criticis always down the hall – watching and waiting.
Your 2027 OUSA Executive:
President: Troy Gibbons
Administrative Vice President: Kamesha Jones
Finance and Strategy Officer: Ella Courdet
Academic Representative: Niko Hay
Welfare & Equity Representative: Yuri Castañeda
Political Representative: Thomas Brocherie
Clubs & Societies Representative: Ella Grayson
Postgraduate Students Representative: Kristina Hames
International Students Representative: Ilham Azman
Residential Representative: Zoe Eckhoff
