Neeve Ann Nagle elected as 2026 UTSSA President, Eclipse/d and MORE MORE MORE to edit Vertigo

The 2025 UTS Students Association elections results have been announced —FIRE UP!’ will retain control of the UTSSA in 2026 for the fourth year in a row with Neeve Ann Nagle elected as President, while for Vertigo, ‘Eclipse/d’ and ‘MORE MORE MORE’ have been elected in a 50/50 split to edit and design the magazine next year.

The Student Unity—National Labor Students coalition has also retained several office bearer positions, with Salma Elmubasher elected as General Secretary, Cam Perez elected as Assistant General Secretary, Sina Afsharmehr elected as Welfare Officer, Taya Morante elected as Indigenous Students Officer (uncontested), George Tulloch elected as Postgraduate Officer, Francessca Harrison elected as Women’s Officer, and Rose Saksena elected as International Students Officer.

For council seats, Omar El-Sobihy, Eamonn Ryan, Amelia Grace Wilson-Williams, Grace Cole, Isabella Taylor, Lana Rumman, and Aaron Choy have all been elected as General Councillors while Liyara Flavel has also been elected as General Councillor while running under the ‘Cut Genocide Not Courses’ ticket.

In a statement to Vertigo, President-elect Nagle said it was clear students want a team that “does the work”, commending the ticket as a team that puts effort and care into students welfare and social justice.

“I’m extremely proud of my campaigners, our outgoing and incoming office bearer teams, and the lasting legacy [of] the FIRE UP! ticket has built on campus as a group of progressive, pragmatic, and hardworking students,” the statement read.

“We’ve proven that it’s possible to be values-driven and still get things done, and it’s clear that students chose that over the tired infighting and performative politics of tickets that have historically done little for anyone but themselves.”

“I’m extremely excited to get to work with this new team and continue delivering real outcomes for students. This is a win for people who actually show up and do the work and a win for UTS students who will continue to benefit from the work of FIRE UP! on campus.”

Socialist Alternative, who ran under ‘Social Justice’, have secured only one office bearer role, with Stop The Cuts UTS campaigner Ella Haid elected as Education Officer. Vertigo understands a preference deal was signed between FIRE UP! and Social Justice to secure the position, with FIRE UP! how-to-vote cards instructing voters to put number one next to Haid. Vertigo also understands ENGAGE how-to-vote cards instructed voters to put number one next to Haid despite the two tickets not making any deal.

Haid did not respond to Vertigo’s request for comment at the time of publication.

Socialist Alternative have retained their four council seats in this year's election, with Yasmine Johnson, Benjamin Grant-Skiba, Andrew Brogden, and Jonathan Waters elected as General Councillors.

The New South Wales Labor Students (NSWLS)—left independent coalition ticket ENGAGE have won only one council seat, with NSWLS member Amelia Ireland elected as General Councillor.

“I’m really proud of the campaign that we ran, I’m proud of Daewah [Thein] and I’m really proud of Caitlin [McInnes] for running for President and Welfare Officer respectively," Ireland said.

“I think we did really well considering all the cards that were dealt to us. As the only councillor elected [from my ticket] I’ll do my best to represent all students and the needs of my faction.”

The results leave NSWLS an absolute minority at UTS and in the state, with the faction electing six councillors out of forty three council seats for the 2026 University of Sydney Student Representative Council and three councillors out of six council seats for the 2026 Wollongong Undergraduates Student Association.

Speaking to Vertigo, ENGAGE Presidential candidate Daewah Thein said “We lost :( but we are still willing to cooperate with everyone on council at the end of the day,”

“We’re all here to fight for the student experience and to improve the quality of education on our campus.”

Independent ticket, ‘Unity, Truth, and Support for the Oppressed’ has won one council seat as well, with Ibrahim Hadi elected as General Councillor.

Declining to speak on the results, a UTSO spokesperson said to Vertigo, “Let’s see what the year ahead of us is going to bring.” 

For National Union of Students delegate positions, President-elect Nagle, incoming Welfare Officer Afsharmehr, current Women's Officer Olivia Lee, current General Secretary Januka Suraweera, current General Councillor Eammon Ryan, and Social Justice’s Ash Satchell have all been elected. Vertigo notes the preference deal between Social Justice and FIRE UP! resulted in Lee’s name added second in the Social Justice NUS how-to-vote cards.

The Ethnocultural, Queer, Disabilities and Environmental-Tech office bearer positions will remain vacant until Representatives Elect, when the incoming UTSSA will vote to elect these four office bearer roles before the first council meeting next year.

With FIRE UP! securing most of the council spots, office bearer positions contested by either NSWLS, SAlt or Hadi at Representatives Elect will be dependents on FIRE UP! how votes, if they do not choose to nominate any one to those roles themselves.

VERTIGO

This year's highly contested race to edit Vertigo has resulted in a 50/50 split between Eclipse/d and MORE MORE MORE, with half of each ticket elected to edit and design this magazine.

From Eclipse/d, current Students News Editor Emanie Samira Darwiche has been elected as Editor-in-Chief, Layal Alameddine as Creative Editor, Nuha Dole as Social Media Director, Mariam Sabih as one out of the two News Editors, and James Phan as one out of the two General Editors.

In a statement to Vertigo, a spokesperson for the ticket said:

“We want to thank everyone who voted this year, we see you, we hear you, and we’ve been listening.”

“Congratulations to the More More More candidates on a great election! This is what democracy is all about. We look forward to building a strong working relationship with More More More to deliver the best possible magazine one that represents, entertains, promotes, informs, and keeps everyone up to date with all things UTS.”

From MORE MORE MORE, current Social Media Director, Kimia Nojoumian, has been elected as Managing Editor, Laurie Lim as Design Director, Mariam Yassine as Features Editor, Asha Johnston as one out of the two News Editors, and Dylan Chesher elected as one out of the two General Editors.  

In a statement to Vertigo, a MORE MORE MORE spokesperson has said:

“We are incredibly proud of running a campaign based in truth and respect. While we are immensely disappointed in the conduct of some other candidates, we are proud to have won half of the positions on the 2026 Vertigo team and are committed to moving forward with a positively collaborative attitude.”

“Our editors and designer will work tirelessly to protect the legacy and quality of the magazine that has been a gem of the UTS community for over 50 years.” 

“Thank you so much to everyone who has supported Vertigo this year, and voted for MORE.”

The current terms for both UTSSA council positions, office bearer roles and Vertigo editorial team are set to end on the 30th of November, with the 2026 teams officially taking over on the 1st December.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Mayela Dayeh, Kimia Nojoumian, Mannix Williams Thomson, and Emanie Samira Darwiche were not involved in this election results article.