Organised Independents

The Organised Independents (often abbreviated to OI) are a grouping within the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom.

The group is made up of candidates for National Executive Committee posts, all standing on an "independent" label, and their supporters. As such, the OIs have been defined as an interest group as opposed to a faction; this originates from the idea that they are apolitical or moderate, either simply as a group of sabbatical officers seeking to support one another, or as proponents of a membership-focused national ideology. Commentator Rachel Brooks writes that the OIs also have a "shared concern to minimise the influence of 'the left'," which she defines as centring around the factions AWL, SBL, and NCAFC.

In 2017, after widespread discontentment with NUS under the leadership of Malia Bouattia, a slate of OI-backed candidates won five of the six full-time officer positions; this included the role of President, in which Shakira Martin, the union's vice-president for further education, defeated Bouattia, receiving 56% of the vote.

As a result of the group's broad definition, a lot of controversy has raged over whether such a faction exists. Many NUS commentators are in agreement that such an organised grouping is clearly in existence. Various names were in use, including the "Webberites" (after Simon Webber, an early leading figure), the "Owainites" (after Owain James, NUS President 2000-2002), the "Independent Faction" before the term "Organised Independents" took hold. The phrase "independent student officers" was also prominent on many manifestos. Increasingly members of the grouping no longer dispute their existence and the label. However, there is still much dispute over whether or not individual independents are aligned to the OIs or not.

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