The End of Entwistle
Education Officer quits amid election fallout.
James Entwistle today announced his resignation from the role of Education Officer that he was elected to in March 2012. His resignation is effective from 7th June.
He appears to have moved on from the disappointment of losing to fierce rival Erin Davies by landing a job elsewhere. The pair have, however, been unable to patch over their personal feud and so there will be no official ‘handover of power’ between the outgoing and ingoing officers.
We attempted to contact Entwistle for comment but were unable to reach him. The circumstances surrounding his resignation are not clear, we understand however that following resignation he will take up employment elsewhere, which Entwistle has described as ‘in a sector I have been passionate about entering for years’.
The fallout follows a bitter election campaign last term, during which Davies overcame all odds to defy Entwistle another year in the post, winning by less than 150 votes. Both sides accused one another of tearing down each other’s campaign material during elections week and, whilst the Copper Rooms chaos that followed the election of Ben Sundell to President captured all the attention, the Entwistle team were seen kicking and punching the Davies campaign material around Warwick campus .
By leaving the post on 10thJune , Entwistle will be leaving his office to gather dust for almost TWO MONTHS, in addition to the large amount of time off sick he has claimed since the election defeat. More damaging for the long term future of Warwick SU is that Davies, Entwistle’s successor, will have no mentor during the handover period akin to a child learning to ride a bike without stabilisers.
Davies faces a difficult start to her new job
As a result of this bitter catfight, Warwick students will now be without an education officer for the one time of the year when they need one – exam period.
The ‘Blair/Brown’ style feud has plagued both candidates throughout the year, with constant disagreements between the pair on how to run Student Council and allegations from the Entwistle camp that Davies has not been as neutral her position dictates. In February, The Boar published an article attacking the impartiality of Erin Davies, on the basis of leaked, personal emails, weeks before election campaigning began.
His resignation has been met with dismay. Billy Jones, 1st year Historian, said ‘Entwistle has really fucked us on this one.’ He further added: ‘If we can survive exam period without an education officer, surely we can go the whole year without one.’
A valid point.
Davies and Warwick students alike will need to tread the tricky summer period without an education officer. This is certainly not the “fair deal for students” offered by Entwistle in his 2012 manifesto.