Shakira Martin (NUS)

Shakira Martin
Martin addressing the 2017 NUS National Conference in Brighton.
59th President of the National Union of Students
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 July 2017
Preceded by	Malia Bouattia
Majority	130 (18.1%)
Vice President for Further Education
In office 23 April 2015 – 3 July 2017
Preceded by	Joe Vinson
Succeeded by	Emily Chapman
Personal details
Born	c.1988
Alma mater	Lewisham and Southwark College

Shakira Martin (born c. 1988) is a British student politician and the president of the National Union of Students.

In April 2017, Martin, the union's vice-president for further education, defeated the incumbent Malia Bouattia, receiving 56% of the vote. After widespread discontentment with NUS under Bouattia's leadership, Martin pledged "unity", "pragmatism", and to put the "NUS back into the hands of its membership". She describes herself as a black working-class single mother, and comes from a Jamaican family background.

Martin was one of nine siblings raised in Lewisham, south-east London, by Jamaican parents. She left home at 16 and had two children, before graduating with a diploma in education and training from Lewisham and Southwark College and then becoming President of the college students' union.

At the NUS 2015 National Conference in Liverpool, Martin was elected as NUS' Vice President for Further Education by 141 votes to 55, following Joe Vinson. In the position, she led a campaign to raise the profile of the impact of government post-16 area reviews on learners, and was a "strong advocate for the learner and apprentice voice".

Martin was then re-elected for another term in April 2016; she was uncontested for the post and won at stage one, with 152 votes compared to 11 votes to re-open nominations. She expanded the previous campaign, and worked on a research project with former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Sir Vince Cable into how major FE reforms should be tailored for learners. The report is due to be published by Autumn 2017.