Rahul Mansigani will be the new CUSU President after a decisive win in the CUSU elections.

Mansigani won the vote with an 11% majority over rival candidate Beccy Talmy, taking a total of 1403 votes. Talmy took 1103 votes, while 232 people voted to re-open nominations.

This year’s turnout was much lower than that of last year – only 13.1% of the electoral roll voted, down from a turnout of 21.2% last year.

Speaking exclusively to Varsity, Mansigani said that he was “thrilled” with the results and was looking forward to working for Cambridge students next year.

“I really hope to develop CUSU into a more relevant, connected union, and will be putting all my effort into making sure that we're there to actively support JCRs, MCRs and individual students, as well as putting pressure on the University on issues like the Sports Centre, rents and Access’ he said.

“I would really like to thank all my supporters, who gave up their time to wear bright yellow t-shirts and distribute flyers, and of course all those who voted for me.

“The campaign was tough at times but exciting throughout, and it was a really interesting week with hustings at most colleges and some stirring debate; Beccy was a worthy opponent and I'm glad I got to know her.”

Runner-up Talmy said that she hoped her campaign had changed the way people think of CUSU as a student voice in the University. She said, “I hope those people will realise that they can make CUSU strong through their own involvement.

“I feel incredibly glad to have convinced over a thousand people that it's more important for CUSU to campaign for greater fairness and equality, within the university and beyond, than to provide discounts and throw parties. Rahul has said that he wants to adopt all my policies, and I can only hope that he will fight hard to bring about truly meaningful change for students, showing them how much CUSU can empower them to do”.

The positions of CUSU Co-ordinator, Ethical Affairs and Access were uncontested, returning Chris Lillycrop, Sophie Hemery and Jamie Gibson and Andy McGowan respectively.

Lillycrop had previously been at the centre of a censorship row when his manifesto, which included proposals to scrap the full-time salaried position of Union Development Manager at CUSU, was redacted by the CUSU Elections Committee. 

The numbers of voters who chose to re-open nominations for his Co-ordinator position was 20.4%, which represents a much higher proportion than that for the same position last year, Clare Tyson, where only 9.8% of votes were for RON.

The Womens’ Officer position was closely contested, with Sarah Peters-Harrison narrowly coming ahead of Anna Goulding, taking 48% of the vote.

Although the proportion of students voting in this year’s elections fell, there are signs that those who did vote are more engaged by who candidates are and what they stand for. Maria Helmling, Education Officer Elect, described voter interest as “extremely encouraging” but said CUSU could do more to boost the profile of the elections and awareness of who can vote.

Of the new CUSU team she said, “I think the new sabbatical team has the real potential to change CUSU, Faculties and Colleges for the better and achieve concrete change in Cambridge”.

Mansigani was also elected as an NUS Delegate for the forthcoming year along with Fatima Junaid, Amy Taylor, Beccy Talmy and Luke Hawksbee . Morgan Wild was elected Student Support Officer while Amina Rai Mumtaz is the new President of the Graduate Union.