The National Union of Students has elected its first black female president after Malia Bouattia won a shock victory over current president Megan Dunn.

Ms Bouattia, the NUS¡¯ black students officer, won 372 votes to Ms Dunn¡¯s 328 in elections held at the union¡¯s annual conference in Brighton on 20 April.

The third candidate, Adil Waraich, the former president of De Montfort Students¡¯ Union, received just nine votes. Some 22 votes called for the reopening of nominations.

Ms Bouattia¡¯s win by 44 votes means Ms Dunn is one of the few NUS presidents in recent memory not to serve a two-year term after being unseated in elections after one year.

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The winning candidate, a former University of Birmingham student, has faced allegations of anti-Semitism during her election campaign, with more than 50 leaders of Jewish students¡¯ unions penning an open letter to call for her to explain her ¡°past rhetoric¡±.

It references an article written by Ms Bouattia in 2011 in which she called the University of Birmingham a ¡°Zionist outpost¡±. She has also been criticised for her refusal to vote for a motion condemning Islamic State.

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Her outspoken support for boycotts of Israel and ¡°resistance¡± by the Palestinian people have also calls for further explanation.

Ms Bouattia - who is the NUS's first Muslim president - addressed these concerns in her hustings speech, describing how her family had been forced to flee civil war in Algeria when she was child .

¡°I know too well the price of terrorism, the consequences of racism and oppression,¡± said Ms Bouattia, a leading figure in the Students Not Suspects campaign against the Prevent anti-terrorism agenda.

"I saw a country ripped apart by terror and was forced into exile," she explained, adding:?¡°I know too well the damage done by racism and persecution."

She explained how her university lecturer father was almost killed by a bomb and her school had been attacked by gun-wielding militia, causing her family to flee.

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¡°I know many of you will have seen my name dragged through the mud by rightwing media, and might think I am a terrorist and my politics driven by hate,¡± she said, adding: "How wrong that is."?

Ms Dunn¡¯s defeat follows a series of challenges to her authority?from an increasingly militant national executive council.

In a statement, the Union of Jewish Students said it hoped its ¡°long-standing positive relationship with the National Union of Students¡± would continue after Ms Bouattia¡¯s election.

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However, there are ¡°many Jewish students who have not been satisfied with Malia¡¯s response so far to the concerns raised by Jewish students over the last few weeks¡±, it said, adding that ¡°these questions still need to be answered¡±.

Several other key executive members face re-election battles of their own at the conference, held in Brighton from 19 to 21 April.

Sorana Vieru, vice-president (higher education), is being challenged by Priscilla Mensah, president of Cambridge University Students¡¯ Union.

Shelly Asquith, vice-president (welfare), will be opposed by Munya Mudarikiri, vice-president (voice) at the?University of Surrey?Students¡¯ Union.

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jack.grove@tesglobal.com