Oxford Union alumni will descend on city to try to oust president-elect

[BonfireLady]

Well, that's quite a turn up for the free speech books!

When the president-elect of the Oxford Union debating society hit the headlines with his awful celebration of a violent assassination, I hoped that he would be declared unfit to run it. Yes, I support free speech, including the right to offend. However, he is president-elect of a debating society and is simply not fit for the role if he's advocating assassination in place of debate. Charlie Kirk was killed while debating. Specifically while answering a question about trans(-identifying) people, by a young man who is/was in a romantic relationship with a (transwo)man.

It seems like this university is waking up to the idea that critical thinking is a good thing. Please keep thinking Oxford Union...... 🤞

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/14/oxford-union-alumni-descend-city-oust-president-elect/

He's written quite a lengthy statement and this was included:

When a national columnist explicitly calls for you to be shot, and your family receives threats, it creates an environment where reasoned debate cannot exist.

Obviously it's appalling that his family received threats but which national columnist explicitly called for him to be shot? Does anyone know? That sounds rather far-fetched and I would hope that this isn't what happened.

Edited for clarity.

In fairness, I now see that he asked for the vote. But it happens often, that people are disappointed by those they elected. There's more than one way of addressing it, and this way seems guaranteed to maximise kerfuffle. Which may have been his objective....

This is the ideal way to address it. There's a no confidence process in place at the OU and it has been put into effect. He holds a position where he represents an august institution and many people. He's behaved utterly disgracefully, albeit legally, and now the people he represents can vote on whether or not they want him to remain. The vote may go in his favour although I hope it doesn't.

I've not seen any calls to hound or arrest him (I'm sure you could find them online if you look hard enough but I'm talking about a significant movement). He represents this institution, now it gets to decide if he really does or not. I can't see anything improper or untoward. Due process, among the people involved.

This is the ideal way to address it. There's a no confidence process in place at the OU and it has been put into effect. He holds a position where he represents an august institution and many people. He's behaved utterly disgracefully, albeit legally, and now the people he represents can vote on whether or not they want him to remain.

This ⬆️

It's a great way to apply common sense consequences to freedom of speech. The union he represents can decide if that's the type of debating society they want to be or not. Unlike Boghossian, I feel optimistic that critical thinking and common sense are making their way back in to universities. Yes, it might need some alumni to help shift that dial but hopefully the current cohort will have also woken up.

Tbh if he had any decency he'd just resign. I'd respect that. I really disrespect him trying to cling on and if he succeeds, I'll be disgusted with the institution and lose respect for that too.

Events like this are the entire reason the no confidence process exists. But he should just remove himself.

George Abaraonye has been removed as President-Elect of the Oxford Union in a confidence motion by the required two thirds majority.
That majority came largely from life members, who either voted by proxy or returned to Oxford today. The adults had to step in. The system worked.

https://x.com/DanielJHannan/status/1979674103381684413?t=CMcVEIR2CpZ2CQ8plqyqLg&s=19

The right result.

False news, sorry. The results aren't in yet. This is certainly what we hope for but the count is ongoing.

Thank you.

I just had a quick Google after seeing the thread had been updated and couldn't see any news reports confirming it.

I dont see this as a free speech issue. It’s a character and a value issue.

No one is saying he cant say it. He’s said it. And thats a good thing because it allowed him to show us who he is.

You really think it would be ok for a woman head or not of a feminist movement/ organisation to celebrate the murder of a transwomen. And that we here would support that?!? Insane. No I can assure you we would not. So I dont see how this has anything to do with us and our free speech.

Anyway the voted are in. Let’s see what Oxford is made of.

You can strongly support free speech (I do), but still have boundaries. He celebrated murder. That’s beyond the pale imo. I’m not suggesting he should be harmed or sent down. I am suggesting he should be “sacked” as president of a debating club since apparently he thinks it’s funny when people he disagrees with get shot.

Exactly this. All day.

Apparently Jolyon Maugham has thrown his weight behind Abaraonye. The article ends with a “he’s bound to lose now..”.🤔
order-order.com/2025/10/17/campaign-for-charlie-kirk-oxford-union-president-welcomes-support-from-jolyon-maugham/

his comments were actually made before he realised Charlie Kirk was dead

Oh, so he was just happy that Kirk had been harmed/injured, not that he had been killed. That's far less psychopathic, isn't it?

No, it isn't. Rational people are shocked when someone is hurt/injured/shot at. HTH.

The supposition on Twitter is that the delay is being caused by a legal challenge. I wonder if the kimonoed one has found a new cause on which to spend legal fees.

I saw George's social media for vote "no" (i.e. he should stay President-elect) which was mainly screenshots of racist vitriol against him posted on X.

Obvious I condemn this racism. That he is experiencing this, logically, has nothing to do with whether voters should have confidence in him.

It's ironically illogical from someone who is supposed to have studied formal logic (and debates) although what mark he got in it is anybody's guess.

Probably the delay is challenging members' voting via email.

Because I worked in UK universities until a decade ago I am fascinated in how things are now. George Abaraonye is reported (Oxford Mail www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/25553300.oxford-unions-george-abaraonye-we-will-not-silenced/) as having submitted a motion of no confidence in himself in an attempt to reclaim “true accountability and (reaffirm) that the Oxford Union must remain a place where students can make mistakes, apologise sincerely, and learn from them”.

So I looked for the sincere apology. This is all I could find. From the site www.restorerespectoxfordunion.co.uk/ and I think they are right to describe it as a 'conditional apology, widely described as mealy-mouthed'. His words reported there are: "my reaction was shaped by the context of Mr. Kirk’s own rhetoric" and that "my words were no less insensitive than his – arguably less so; the difference is that I had the humility to recognize when I strayed from my core values".

Looking back to whether he was elected by a significant margin (he was) and what his nearest rival (Chapman) offered I found this. Chapman’s campaign emphasized her experience as a long-serving member of the Union committees, an appointed as well as an elected officer whose work spans debates and fundraising efforts alike. Her vision for the union included the launching of an alumni network and increasing revenue through paid opportunities.
Abaraonye’s campaign centered on his desire to remove the focus on student politics to make the Union ‘more enjoyable’ for its members. His plans include working towards “fixing disciplinary processes” and “separating private business
from the debates”. www.oxfordstudent.com/2025/06/14/george-abaraonye-wins-ht26-oxford-union-presidency/#google_vignette

Its interesting that he was going to fix the disciplinary process as - prior to the vote of no confidence - he was reported and being investigated (I think) as part of it. He does seem to have been elected on a 'not taking things too seriously' ticket and so if the adults can press reset the Oxford Union will benefit. I picked up in my searches that he also posted about the late Queen and accused her of genocide. So he won't stop trying to post to shock. And he does not show contrition for this latest stunt. I hope he loses.

Yes it’s an absolute non apology and he has some front implying he has made a sincere apology.
Not surprised Jolyon has got involved, absolutely typical of his combination of publicity hunger and terrible judgement.

At times there is simply nothing else that can be required other than violent retaliation. And this is a view I wholeheartedly agree with. The view that some institutions are too broken, too regressive, too oppressive to be reformed, like cancers of our society. They must, and they should be taken down, by any means necessary.
—George Abaraonye

Hm. Hoping that this guy gets 'taken down' by a lot of email proxies.
Also hoping that those who voted when he won the election, and even more so those failed to vote might wake up (the number voting when he was elected was lower than usual).

so what is his 'core value' - might is right?

Didn't he say in leaked messages that he only ran for president because he hated the institution? I actually don't know what's to hate about it, it's a debating organisation. If he's happy to study at Oxford Uni, I can't see what's so objectionable about the OU, which is a separate body, albeit with obvious links. It couldn't possibly be that he's actually happy to take the status but still wants to style himself as a rebel somehow, could it?

Quite apart from everything else, it just doesn't sound like he's clever enough to be there. According to reports he got ABB in his A levels; I know Oxford is trying to be more inclusive these days to compensate for all the advantages private school kids get but I don't know... AAA isn't really THAT hard for a student who's able and dedicated enough. And even that aside, since that's the uni and not the union, he still wasn't smart enough to realise the president of a debating society can't celebrate the murder of an opponent without backlash, that it isn't appropriate? And then fights tooth and nail to hang on rather than resigning, even though he supposedly hates the place? So he actually doesn't even understand what he's done wrong?

It's just starting to seem like he isn't clever enough, either with books or the general smarts, to be there and he isn't honest enough either.

Boris Johnson was president of the union so I don’t think honesty has ever been a requirement.

Thing is though, once I would have agreed the union should have been taken down- it was a nursery for some of the worst people in politics and didn’t promote the sort of values that we really needed to see more of in our political system. These days, however, now that the ability to discuss and tolerate disagreement seems to be under threat among students due to the increasing culture of purity spirals on the left, student debating societies could be more important than ever.

I was never a student debater (not brave enough) but dd was very involved at school- she got to the finals days of national schools competitions several times and has debated at the Oxford Union. It is clear she gained an enormous amount from the experience in the ability to hear and consider a range of viewpoints, not just to win debates herself. Right now we need to hold on to all the platforms for free speech we’ve got.

Boris Johnson was president of the union so I don’t think honesty has ever been a requirement.

Haha, good point! But I'm talking about honesty in terms of honesty within the position, if you see what I mean. I think Johnson probably took the position with genuine respect for the institution and what it represented, understanding that it was meant to uphold free speech and be respectful of debate and opposing viewpoints (within reason). I'm sure he enjoyed the status - who wouldn't - but at the same time respected the institution. It's looking as though Abaraonye took the position to enjoy the status - he certainly is fighting to hold on to it - while also claiming he hates the institution, and openly breaching the values in terms of debate and free speech on which it's based. It's a different sort of dishonesty and it completely undermines the purpose and nature of the position itself.

Is there a source for this quote please? Apologies if it's further up the thread and I missed it.

I transcribed it from the video I saw, give me a sec and I will post a link

https://x.com/suffragent_/status/1966411211995513228?s=46&t=ALGAiHxwK3XXeRoDQylnWA

This is the first one that popped up, but type ‘George Abaraonye violent retaliation’ on Twitter/X and it’s been reposted by many different accounts.

@BonfireLady

Sorry I meant to tag you when I edited to include the link.

If he had left out the ‘wholeheartedly agree’ with bit, I might think it was just a debating position, but his own emphasis makes it clear these are his thoughts.