Last night Guild Council at Birmingham University Guild of Students reached the conclusion of a debate which has been raging for a number of years: It decided on the makeup of its future trustee board. The issue has dominated Guild politics for at least the last eight months, and has seen numerous presentations and motions, not to mention the huge amount of behind-the-scenes discussion, negotiating and re-negotiating. It has divided people as those on all sides got passionate about their preferred models. It has created a vast amount of stress for those involved. Last night, following a long debate in Guild Council, the issue was finally resolved.

 This week I was lucky enough to attend NUS extraordinary conference, which I shall probably write about in its own right later.  The motion passed (!) there was to create a new constitution for the Union, and a number of amendments were debated- one of which changed the make up of the trustee board. There was a short speech for and a short speech against. Voting cards were raised. In a matter of no more than fifteen minutes, it was over.

The contrast could not have been more staggering!