Hypocrisy, bullying and a personal campaign against Aaron Porter

By Wes Streeting and Gemma Tumelty

As former NUS presidents we are just two of only 54 people who’ve ever had the privilege of leading the UK’s student movement. Today, the 54th holder of that office, Aaron Porter, announced that he will not be seeking re-election.

There are few people who truly understand the challenges, pitfalls and personal toll that office takes on the people who hold it. Although we have experienced the personal highs and lows of the job, it has been almost impossible to imagine the pressure cooker that our successor has had to operate within. He has been subjected to more media scrutiny than we ever were, every judgement and every statement has been closely critiqued and scrutinised, he has had to deal with parliamentary votes, the biggest wave of student occupations since the 1960s, government leaks designed to destabilise their biggest critics – and all this whilst standing on an educational landscape that is shifting at an exponential rate.

What has really appalled us has been the nature of the personal campaign waged against Aaron. When you stand for elected office, you lay yourself open to political criticism. We had – and still have – our critics, but we were never subjected to the bullying experienced by Aaron. We do not use the term ‘bullying’ lightly. Those who threw eggs and trifles and hounded Aaron around various campuses are no better than the very worst of playground bullies. How ironic, that those who rightly oppose the kettling tactics of police, took such glee in claiming to have kettled Aaron Porter on a university campus. The hypocrisy is breath taking.

Given all this, you could be forgiven for wondering why Aaron would have considered seeking re-election in the first place. That is, of course, unless you know Aaron personally. We have both known Aaron for about five years. Countless students’ union officers who have worked with him over those years will testify to the hours he has put in to the student movement. Our biggest criticism of Aaron has never been his dedication to doing a good job, but his lack of dedication to looking after himself, taking time out and getting a break every once in a while.

For all the pitfalls of the office, being NUS president is an extraordinary experience. That’s why the decision that Aaron has taken will not have been easy. He knew that had he stood for re-election he would have won. Taking a moment to stop, reflect, survey the landscape and conclude that it would be better for the organisation and the movement to have a new leader takes some courage. And we salute Aaron for that.

It is not for us to set out the challenges facing the student movement and offer solutions, but we will offer some good news for Aaron. You will know what it is to have your weekends back, you will have more time to watch Crystal Palace and spend times with friends, you will have time to read for pleasure and you will have time to actually sit through a dinner with the two of us without running off to do a BBC News interview.

Perhaps best of all, you get to look back on your time in the student movement and appreciate just what an amazing experience it amounts to. You will even laugh at the more bizarre and insane moments you’ve experienced.

In the meantime, enjoy the liberation of being an NUS President not up for re-election and fight like hell to stop the marketisation and privatisation of our education system.

Gemma Tumelty was NUS President from 2006-8 and Wes Streeting was NUS President from 2008-10