Between the 17th and the 20th of October the University of Bristol, after months of campaigning, voted to continue the SU's affiliation with the National Union of Students. The vote followed the successful petition signed by 355 students in May 2016, demanding the referendum. A total of 2,409 students voted to remain part of the confederation, amounting to 67% of the vote turnout, whilst 1,186 students opted for the disaffiliation. Bristol’s full time officer team said in a joint statement, that they were ‘pleased’ with the result and that they ‘look forward to continuing to work with NUS’. However, they ‘recognise the concerns that have been raised throughout this referendum’ and ‘urge’ students who would like to see changes within the NUS to ‘consider running to be a Bristol delegate to the NUS’s national conference’. James Heale, leader of the opposition campaign, BONUS, said in a statement that he hopes that the NUS’s ‘willingness to reform’ is in fact ‘the case’. Prior to the vote, a survey held by Epigram showed that a clear majority of students wanted to disaffiliate from the NUS. According to the survey, three quarter of students believed the NUS do not properly represent them. Other students across the country also oppose and have started campaigning for their SUs to end their relationships with the NUS. Many claim the nomination of Malia Bouattia as the NUS President, as the reason, amid accusations of anti-Semitism. Harry Jones, a first year law student, voted to disaffiliate Bristol’s SU from the NUS. Hi Harry, could you tell me why you decided to vote leave? I feel like the NUS does not properly represent us as students and that we don’t reap the rewards that we sow. The remain campaign used the comparison with ‘Brexit’ to scare monger students who naturally, for the most part, were remain voters for the last referendum. As Heale said, if the vote had been held in May when the referendum was called for, I think the outcome would have been very different. I suppose we’ll see how things pan out. Mary Barrett, a first year history student, voted to remain affiliated. Hello Mary, could you tell me why you voted remain? I think the NUS affiliation isn’t without its imperfections but I think disaffiliation isn’t the answer either. We do have benefits from being associated with the NUS, I just think the things we aren’t happy with will only improve if we remain supportive and try and progress together. I am thinking of running to be a Bristol delegate in order to try and make a difference first hand. The SU is important to me and I want to see it prosper. It is encouraging that such a large student demographic voted and it is without a doubt that the SU and the NUS’s association will only improve now that the student voice has been heard.