A UK Independence Party activist and a prominent anti-cuts campaigner are to challenge current National Union of Students president Toni Pearce for the organisation¡¯s leadership.

Jack Duffin, secretary of Ukip¡¯s youth wing Young Independence and a prospective parliamentary candidate for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, is one of four candidates on the ballot for president at this year¡¯s national elections.

Mr Duffin, says he is contesting the NUS leadership because ¡°education in this country is sub standard at best and declining¡±.

Another candidate is the University of London Union vice-president Daniel Lemberger-Cooper, a former student union president at Royal Holloway, University of London, who has been a high-profile campaigner against privatisation, cuts and the closure of ULU¡¯s student union.

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Mr Lemberger-Cooper hit the headlines last year when he was arrested after complaining about police searches of students attending a freshers¡¯ week event at Royal Holloway¡¯s Egham campus in September.

Aaron Kiely, NUS¡¯s black students¡¯ officer, is also running for the NUS leadership, though Toni Pearce is the overwhelming favourite to retain the presidency when votes are cast at the NUS national conference in Liverpool in April.

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More pertinent to universities could be the race to succeed Rachel Wenstone whose two-year term as vice-president (higher education) has come to an end.

Ms Wenstone has tended to represent the NUS on higher education matters, with Ms Pearce having a greater focus on further education.

That contest will involve a choice between the president of Aberdeen University Students¡¯ Association, Megan Dunn, and Tom Flynn, vice-president (education) at the University of Bristol Union.

jack.grove@tsleducation.com