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Vote 07: Owen Morgan retains presidency

16th March 2007

Uncharacteristically subdued, Owen Morgan returns to the presidency with the swagger of a boxer who has truly been in a fight.

However, that may not actually be the case as Swansea's returning Student Union President ran out winner by a considerable margin, substantially surpassing the support he received to get the position in the first place twelve months ago.

His successful re-election also completed the trilogy of returning Sabbs, which is something that he truly enjoys being a part of; lining up alongside new and old representatives alike.

Showing obvious signs of fatigue as the clock ticked closer to six in the morning, Owen soon reverted to his cheeky charm and summarised his joy as being "happy as a pig in shit". Blunt but effective from a man who claimed to have injured his cheeks from so much smiling through-out the arduous week that was.

Having spent the week vehemently campaigning, including blasting The Who around the student village out of a camper van to name one highlight, he now has a poise that was only emerging a year ago when first elected.

Obviously having learnt from the couple of controversies that imposed on his first term there is less expectation of golf buggies and more emphasis to be placed on his better thought out safety measures.

Already touting ideas of coordinating more secure passages across the park during the eerie dark nights, a problem that is often the focal point of the election process.

The President is also keen to enhance the freshers' experience and also cater for those leaving the comfort of the campus for the wilds of Swansea; with second years likely to be accosted on numerous pub crawls as the new term begins in the autumn.

Owen is truly a product of the Swansea experience and exemplifies this in his first port of call being to revert the name of 'DV8' back to the much favoured institution of 'Divas'.

This being just a small gesture that encapsulates the varying levels of concerns which face a student president. Coming from a position of experience, Owen is well equipped to improve on those areas that he found problematic this year and the aggressive nature of this year's campaign process has certainly toughened the skin of the president.

Chris Sloley