Oxford Union plunged into fresh chaos as new president is kicked out

The Oxford Union has been plunged into fresh chaos after it kicked out another president-elect – this time over alleged election fraud.

Catherine Xu, a Chinese postgraduate student at Exeter College, was removed after an internal tribunal accused her of trying to get non-members to vote when she ran for the role.

It comes just months after George Abaraonye, a previous president-elect, was also ousted over appearing to celebrate on social media over the killing of US activist Charlie Kirk.

In the latest farce, Ms Xu is accused of distributing union membership cards to non-members to vote on polling day – a claim she denies.

The 200-year-old debating society organised a panel of former Union officers to hold an election tribunal, after Ms Xu won a vote last month.

She was due to become president for the autumn term, until allegations emerged of her giving members’ cards to non-members so that they could use false names to vote.

According to The Oxford Student, a campus newspaper, she was alleged to have procured ‘the impersonation of members of the society at the poll … by supplying an instrument and/or the Oxford Union membership card … for the purpose of enabling other persons to cast ballots at the poll in the names borne on them.’

Rival student newspaper Cherwell reported that during the tribunal, Miss Xu was accused of handing out a stack of union membership cards on polling day to people not entitled to vote and told them to cast ballots in other members’ names.

The Oxford Union has been plunged into fresh chaos after it kicked out another president-elect – this time over alleged election fraud (pictured: Catherine Xu)

A number of students were reportedly caught voting using the identification of other members on polling day.

According to Cherwell, Ms Xu allegedly discussed ‘finding people’ on social media platform WeChat, and sent a voicenote to a friend a few days after the election in which she asked whether she still had ‘the cards’. 

The tribunal said it found this to be ‘particularly damning’ – although Ms Xu later said she was referring to a different type of card.

Following the process, Ms Xu was ousted and barred from any further elections.

Ms Xu denied the allegations levelled against her and dismissed them as ‘political drama’.

She told the Oxford Student: ‘I strongly reject the findings against myself and deny that any conspiracy existed.

‘I am deeply concerned that the decision appears to rely on evidence I believe to be fabricated or materially unreliable, yet imposes an extraordinarily severe and disproportionate penalty.

‘The union has seen increasing political drama and decisions based on contested evidence in recent years, and such a verdict risks encouraging more anonymous and fabricated allegations. This case must receive strict appeal review, with full procedural fairness and transparency.’

It comes just months after George Abaraonye (pictured), a previous president-elect, was also ousted over appearing to celebrate on social media over the killing of US activist Charlie Kirk

She later added that she planned to appeal against the decision and claimed she was a victim of racism and harassment.

She said the tribunal was ‘unfair’ and a result of political opponents wanting to ‘remove’ her.

She also said she had not been given enough opportunity to gather evidence for the tribunal, because she had returned to China for the university holidays – making it difficult to organise her case due to the time difference.

And she said the reported allegations against her were ‘not true’. 

Before the election, Ms Xu had campaigned for more female speakers and said: ‘The union is way bigger than its scandals, but the perceived dysfunction keeps drowning out the good. I want to help fix that.’

Ms Xu is studying for her executive MBA at Oxford. It is understood she is originally from China, although she attended the private Chigwell School in Essex, which charges £51,000 a year for boarders. 

According to her LinkedIn profile, she has previously worked as an investor for a venture capital fund, and has undertaken courses at the London School of Economics, Imperial College London and two Chinese institutions.

In a YouTube interview last year, she spoke about taking part in the Oxford Union, noting that some topics of debate are ‘controversial’, such as the recent ‘cancel culture’ debate.

She said: ‘There are hot topics. So we bring people from different fields to talk about topics, and invite current students to join the debates.’ 

The Union’s election tribunal is made up of a panel of former officers of the society who would have normally graduated at least three years previously.

It is understood they normally include at least one legally qualified person, such as a serving or retired barrister or solicitor, who in most cases will serve as the chair.

The Oxford Union draws its membership from students and alumni of the University of Oxford, but the two institutions are not officially affiliated. 

The Oxford Union declined to comment.