Gerard Tully has been elected as the new president of CUSU after close to record turn-out in this week’s sabbatical elections.

The Trinity Hall undergraduate was competing against Sam Wakeford and Adam Booth.

Under the Single Transferrable Vote system, Tully won in the final round with 1,635 votes - 500 more than his nearest contender Booth.

Turnout for the CUSU elections, which is often notoriously low, was 4,211 or approximately 23% of the student population. This represents substantial improvement on previous years.

Tully campaigned on a policy of “Right Experience, Bright Ideas” saying that he was committed to “fight for students, not an ideology”.

He was Vice-President of the Cambridge Union Society in Lent and Easter 2010, and was CUSU Secretary and Undergraduate Development Officer last year.

Second-place Adam Booth campaigned for a “fighting student union”. His strong affiliation with the political left and Cambridge Defend Education – which he did not play down during his election campaign – is likely to have been a deciding factor in his loss.

Outgoing President, Rahul Mansigani, told Varsity "I'm very pleased with the increased level of turnout and engagement with the CUSU Elections-- something I was aiming for this year.

"All three Presidential candidates led excellent campaigns, and students were offered a genuine choice. Gerard will make an excellent President, and I look forward to handing over to him in July."

For the other positions, Harriett Flower was voted CUSU Coordinator, and Rosa O'Neill won Student Support Officer. Morgan Wild and Ruth Graham, who both ran unopposed, were elected to Education Officer and Women's Officer, respectively.

Taz Rasul, who already runs a website providing a free Personal Statement proof-reading service to prospective Cambridge applicants, has become the new access officer.

Taz faced criticism from TCS News Editor, James Burton, who described the website as “a very bad thing”. Despite this, she still managed to beat the three other contenders for the position.

Detailed election results are expected to be available later today.