Catherine Xu has been elected the President of the Oxford Union for Michaelmas term 2026 with 629 first preference votes. Liza Barkova was the runner-up with 470 first preferences, whilst Gareth Lim received 326 first preferences and Hamza Hussain received 144.
Unusually, this term, the presidential election was a four-way race; typically, it is only contested by two candidates. An Oxford Student exit poll, which was released on Friday night, declared that the presidential election was “too close to call”, with none of the candidates projected to have a majority of first preference votes.
Harry Aldridge was elected Librarian with 880 first preference votes, Claire Luo was elected Treasurer with 695 first preference votes, and Vishnu Vadlamani was elected Secretary with 530 first preference votes.
The Presidential Candidates
In her manifesto, Catherine Xu, who is currently the Treasurer of the Union, said that “I’m running because the Union needs someone it can trust – not just with its finances, but with its culture and future”. Amongst her pledges were a desire to end “pre-debate disruption” and to increase the number of women speakers.
Similarly, Liza Barkova’s presidential campaign focused on stabilising the Union because “today, the Union’s standing is at its lowest point”. Barkova was formerly an elected member of the Union’s Standing Committee. If elected president, she sought to improve the quality of speakers, finances, and uptake of membership.
Meanwhile, Gareth Lim, the Ex-Chair of Debate Selection Committee, described himself as “a regular union member with the experience to make a difference”. He said, “I’m running independently so that I can always do the right thing for the Union, instead of bowing to political pressures or worries of the next election”.
Lim pledged that he would listen to members’ concerns with “President’s Office Hours every week”. He also focused on his international debating experience, promising to “bring competitive debating back to the forefront of the Union’s focus”.
Hamza Hussain said in his manifesto that his “life has been shaped by responsibility for others under challenging circumstances”. He explained that his experiences in a domestic violence refuge, social housing, and as a young carer “instilled in me a strong commitment to advocacy, representation, and institutional integrity, values I bring to this Society”.
The Standing Committee Election
The candidates elected to the Standing Committee of the Union (in order of first preference votes) were Matteo Brunel (254), Ea Ventura Marty (202), Toby Bowes Lyon (154), Henry Nicholls (153), Saara Lunawat (122), and Shamir Aziz (121).