For those of us on Twitter, #LJTrup4OUSU4Change may not have been a trend at the forefront of our tweeting experience over the past few weeks. Louis Trup, a third-year student at Brasenose College, Oxford, has baffled many by winning the OUSU Presidential Elections last week – his manifesto, written on lined paper in coloured crayon, was headlined by the aforementioned hashtag, and proposed the abolition of Week Five, double beds for all, world peace, and a monorail to enable faster transit to some of the more out-of-town colleges, among other pledges.

Dismissed by many as a “joke candidate”, Trup has proved his doubters wrong.

As the results were announced, Trup was filmed shouting “What the fuck just happened?” and the resounding message is one of confusion and bewilderment – the student political system has been stirred and shaken by Trup’s whirlwind campaign, which wound up taking 1685 first preference votes, in contrast to the 975, 725, and 587 won by the other three candidates, respectively.

Trup’s campaign video ends with the words “BEHIND THE FUN IS A SERIOUS MESSAGE”. In an article he wrote for The Oxford Student, Trup berated “un-fun student politicians working towards a cosy Labour seat in 20 years”, drawing attention to the fact that thousands attend College JCR meetings regularly, whilst only a hundred or so appear for the University-wide OUSU Council meetings – an issue that is relevant for Cambridge students as the disaffiliation question makes its way through many college JCRs this year.

OUSU and CUSU are notoriously two of the least popular student unions in the country, and many of Trup’s supporters are hoping that his victory will re-energise the central student unions of collegiate universities.

Whilst an opposing candidate proposed a Week Five petting zoo as part of a more-centralised OUSU-based welfare system, Trup wrote: “I still can’t believe people call me the ‘joke candidate’.”

Trup’s trajectory is one that echoes the concerns many have about students in Cambridge and other universities.

Following the election results, Trup said: “I think the people have spoken and we’re gonna make a fucking big change. I didn’t run on an incompetency platform, I ran on a platform of we need to engage people.

As his manifesto says in blue crayon, “THE MOB HAS SPOKEN”.