Rania Ramli elected Labour Students chair as Corbynsceptics sweep to victory

The results of the latest Labour Students election have been released this afternoon, showing that Rania Ramli was elected as national chair and the Corbynsceptic slate won all major positions.

Ramli tweeted: “Delighted to have been elected as National Chair of Labour Students. I stood to make our movement bigger, better and bolder than ever before and that’s what I plan to deliver for our members. I can’t wait to get started!”

The candidates endorsed by left and soft left groups including Labour Students Left, Open Labour, Momentum and CLPD Youth did not win any of the national positions, and only secured 5 of the 22 main roles including regional and national coordinators.

Voters chose to reopen nominations (RON) the Yorkshire & The Humber regional coordinator position, as the only candidate that made it on to the ballot paper was a Corbynite.

The election has attracted controversy, with accusations of vote rigging and calls for the organisation to be shut down. A number of student clubs complained that they were disenfranchised from the process, and some have vowed to disaffiliate from Labour Students.

Critics of the way the elections have been conducted point out that there are tens of thousands of student Labour members, but only hundreds were eligible to vote – and there were reports that some of those eligible did not receive a ballot.

Reacting to the results, Labour’s national executive committee youth rep Lara McNeill tweeted: “I have contacted Labour Students for the breakdown of their results and will be raising concerns at NEC. They are trying to hide turnout which will be predictably diabolical – reflecting the stagnation of the organisation and the Blairite politics that go along with it.”

At its recent conference, with an electorate of 59, Labour Students voted against the abolition of tuition fees and against the introduction of one-member-one-vote (OMOV) in its elections.

Again, critics pointed out that there was limited funding available for travelling delegates, which affected poorer students, the requirements to entry were unclear or not provided with sufficient notice, and the low levels of club affiliation has meant left the North without representation on the committee.

National positions

National chair – Rania Ramli
National secretary – Jess Raspin
Campaigns & membership officer – Andrew Wilson
Vice-chair (campaigns & policy) – Angus Reilly
Vice-chair (events & communications) – SJ Smyth
BAME officer – Jack Galea
Disabled students officer – Terence Smith
LGBT+ officer – Liam Deary
Trans officer – Arthur Webber
Women’s officer – Lily Madigan
National Policy Forum representative – Dan Bewley
International officer – Eda Cazimoglu
Further education representative – Robin Lorde

Region & nations positions

East Midlands regional coordinator – Polly Swain
Eastern regional coordinator – Liam Deary
London regional coordinator – Ansh Bhatnagar
Scottish Labour Students chair – Andrew Wilson
South East regional coordinator – Rosie Sourbut
South West regional coordinator – Michael Grant
Welsh Labour Students chair – Shaun Bendle
West Midlands regional coordinator – Nathan Boroda
Yorkshire & The Humber regional coordinator – RON (Re-Open Nominations)

Elections committee

Alex Delameilleure
Angus Reilly
Dan Bewley
Danny Filer

Policy committee

Georgie Harris
Jade Azim
Scarlet Conway
Spencer Payne
Viljo Wilding