Revealed: Next year’s Newcastle SU president is running to be a Tory councillor

Shah Yaseen Ali was elected as the incoming president in March this year

2 years ago

The incoming president of the Newcastle University Students’ Union will stand as a Conservative Party candidate in the May elections.

Shah Yaseen Ali was elected as the president of the SU for the incoming academic year in March of this year.

Now, Shah is standing as the candidate for Heaton in the Newcastle City Council local elections less than two months after winning the Students’ Union election.

In his manifesto for the NUSU presidency, Shah focused on students’ struggles during the cost of living crisis, advocating for “more jobs on campus” to support students’ financially and “make a legal advisor available” so students can hold their landlords to account.

In the election, Shah gained a total of 1,909 votes in the second round, with a vote-gap of 7.5 between Re-Open Nominations (RON), who had the most votes in the first round.

In Shah’s candidate announcement on the Newcastle Conservatives’ Facebook page, it said: “Heaton needs a local resident who lives and breathes it’s issues to use actions, not words, to deliver on local priorities – that’s why we have selected Shah Ali to stand for his community.”

The statement also said that Shah is committed to ending the disarray on Heaton’s roads due to it being a low traffic neighbourhood, which they claim to have been caused by the Labour Party.

A city council is responsible for a variety of fundamental services for people and businesses in specific areas. Including social care, schools, housing and planning and rubbish collection.

The Tab Newcastle has contacted Shah for comment and Newcastle University Students’ Union declined to comment.