Gemma Tumelty
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Gemma Tumelty (born 20 October 1980, Somerset) was the President of the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom (NUS) until 2008. She was the NUS National Secretary for 2005 to 2006, and a member of its National Executive Committee for two years before that.
Early life
She was born in Weston-Super-Mare and grew up in Burnham-On-Sea, in a single parent family, going to school in Cheddar. The family moved to Hertforshire during her later teens, but returned once Gemma and her sister went to university. Her mother Sue Tumelty and Step-Father now live in Greater Bristol and run a business in the city. Gemmma is a graduate of Liverpool John Moores University, she was previously Women's Officer and then Vice President Welfare in Liverpool Students' Union. At LJMU, she studied Applied Psychology, receiving a 2:1 degree in 2005. She studied one year of sociology previously. She was elected as National Secretary of the NUS in April 2005 at the NUS Conference in Blackpool.
NUS President
Tumelty was first elected in March 2006, being the first NUS president from a post 1992 university. Although she was a member of the Labour Party she was not a candidate of its student wing, Labour Students, and ran for President with the description independent. She is part of the Organised Independents faction. There were six other candidates, including a member of the Education Not for Sale campaign, candidates from Conservative Future and Liberal Democrat Youth and Students, and two more independents/labour party independents.
In 2006, Tumelty led the NUS in signing an accord with the Trades Union Congress (TUC). Motivated by the increasing number of students who are taking-up employment to fund their education, the agreement will see the NUS and TUC working together to encourage students to join a trade union.[1]
Tumelty was re-elected on 28 March 2007 and served a full term until July 2008 when she was succeeded by Labour Students's Wes Streeting. Her opponents in 2007 were Sofie Buckland, a member of Education Not for Sale and an officer on the NUS National Executive, and Rob Owen, a member of RESPECT and General Secretary of the University of Manchester Students' Union.
She wrote a weekly blog for the Education section of The Guardian. In 2006 she became the first NUS president to address the TUC Conference.
Career
Upon leaving NUS, Tumelty joined Million+, a university think tank representing former polytechnic universities as Press and Public Affairs Manager. She also served as a co-opted member of the management committee of Compass - a centre left pressure group.
Gemma Tumelty started work in the International Department of the TUC in 2009 and is currently working in the Campaigns and Communications Department, organising domestic, mostly public sector, anti-cuts campaigns and TUC annual congress.
In 2011 Tumelty became a trustee of Kick 4 Life, a charity which uses the power of football and sport to transform the lives of some of the most disadvantaged boys and girls in the world. In 2012, Tumelty was shortlisted to become the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Bristol West.
References
External links
- Bio
- NUS officer's blog
- Guardian blogs
- Debt Divides Prince from Pauper, BBC News, 14 Apr 2005
- Labour list articles
- Huffington Post