Jessica Wing has swept to victory in the inaugural Disabled Students’ Officer election. Wing, who will be officially confirmed as the winner tomorrow morning, secured 81.6 per cent of the votes, with only 18 votes to re-open nominations.

The position was created after the result of a referendum in February showed that an overwhelming majority of students were in favour of a dedicated sabbatical position for disabled students. 

Following her overwhelming victory, Wing will become CUSU’s sixth paid sabbatical officer for the upcoming year, and will also remain the head of the Disabled Student’s Campaign for a second year.

Wing, who stood unopposed for the role, campaigned on a platform including increasing funding for the University Counselling Service and striving to fight cuts to the Disabled Student Allowance at a national level.

The poll, which was open to all those who self-define as disabled, was open between midnight on Monday, and 7pm on Wednesday, and attracted just 98 voters, a turnout of approximately six per cent based on admissions statistics published by Varsity in March. According to last year’s Equality & Diversity Information Report, disabled students currently make up 8.1 per cent of undergraduates.

Speaking to Varsity, Wing addressed the low turnout: "I think it was inevitable that there was going to be a low turn-out due to a combination of it being a by-election (and one in exam term at that), as well as the fact that lots of students don't identify as having a disability even though they might be legally classed as such."

She also suggested that the fact the role is so new may have contributed to the low turnout, saying that "there's no precedent for what will be done with the role and some might therefore not consider it relevant to them."

On what she plans to do going forward, Wing said: "After my finals I will be consulting with disabled students to discuss how the role will be shaped, what the focuses will be, etc."