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, also from Trinity Hall, and Adam Booth from Robinson.

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 and is the second highest turn-out on record.

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

Speaking to Varsity, Tully said: "I think on the back of near record turnout we can say that more and more students are thinking about CUSU and the work it does.

"However CUSU could always do more, and I hope I can deliver on that. I stood on a platform of engagement - to me that means making sure students are not only aware of what’s going on, but have the tools and the knowhow to get involved themselves."

Regarding the University’s refusal to hold a bursary debate Tully added, "obviously we are all very angry at the university’s decision not to allow a vote on the amending grace. I strongly support Rahul’s ongoing work and I hope they can be persuaded to follow their procedures and let the vote go ahead."

Tully was also 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."

The new Access officer is Taz Rasul, who already runs a website providing a free Personal Statement proof-reading service to prospective Cambridge applicants.

Rasul faced criticism from TCS News Editor, James Burton, who described the website as "a very bad thing" during her election campaign. Despite this, she still managed to beat the three other contenders for the position.

The closest fought race was for Student Support Officer with the top three candidates in the first round being separated by a mere 9 votes. After the third round, Rosa O’Neill was elected to the position with 79 more votes than second-place Heidi Aho.

For the other positions, Harriett Flower was voted CUSU Coordinator. Morgan Wild and Ruth Graham, who both ran unopposed, were elected to Women’s Officer and Education Officer, respectively.