Oxford Union president-elect loses no confidence vote
George Abaraonye’s position in doubt as poll outcome is challenged.
Oxford Union’s president-elect George Abaraonye is facing uncertainty after a no confidence vote against him passed, despite concerns from his supporters about the voting process.
1,228 votes were cast in favour of no confidence and 501 against. The result meets the required two-thirds majority threshold outlined in Oxford Union rules.
In a statement, Mr Abaraonye said the poll was “compromised” by untested regulations and raised concerns that campaigners had “unsupervised access” to the email account collecting proxy votes. He also claimed electoral officials suspended the count at one point, believing that “no legitimate and true result could be reached as a result of procedural failures.”
A notice released by returning officer Donovan Lock stated that, according to union rules, the president-elect is now considered to have resigned. However, the notice also said that any formal allegations or complaints would need to be resolved before the result is final.
Mr Abaraonye became president-elect after elections earlier this year, but faced criticism after messages attributed to him appeared to celebrate the shooting of Charlie Kirk at a Utah Valley University event in September.
Last month, a statement from Oxford Stand Up To Racism said Mr Abaraonye had also faced a wave of racist abuse online since the controversy. In September, the Oxford Union publicly condemned both the remarks and the racial abuse and threats made towards Mr Abaraonye.
Thousands of Oxford Union members were eligible to take part in the no-confidence vote, which allowed for both in-person and proxy voting. Although the vote has passed, the outcome could be reviewed depending on the disciplinary committee’s findings and any complaints issued about the process.