Arwa Hanin Elrayess has made history by being elected as the first Palestinian President of the Oxford Union for the Trinity Term 2026. The election was held last Tuesday (November 28), where Elrayess, a second-year PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) student, secured the presidency with 757 votes—approximately 150 more than her closest opponent, Liza Barkova. Both candidates currently serve on the Union’s Standing Committee. The election saw a significant turnout of 1,528 voters and comes after a turbulent year for the Oxford Union, which recently saw consecutive no-confidence votes brought against two of its previous presidents.