National Union of Students
During his time at university, he was elected President of the National Union of Students Scotland, the Scottish 'special region' organisation within the NUS, in 1992 and served a term of office until 1994.
In 1994, Murphy took a sabbatical from university to serve as the President of the National Union of Students, an office which he held from 1994–96, during which time he was a member of Labour Students. After this period, he did not return to his studies and did not take a degree.
During Murphy's presidency in 1995, the NUS dropped its opposition to the abolition of the student grant in line with the Labour Party's policies, contrary to the agreed policy at the NUS Derby Conference. Subsequently he was condemned by a House of Commons Early Day Motion introduced by Ken Livingstone and signed by 17 Labour MPs for "intolerant and dictatorial behaviour".
Read more about this topic: Jim Murphy
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