The incoming president of the Oxford Union debating society has lost a confidence vote over remarks he made about the shooting of US conservative personality Charlie Kirk.
Voting figures showed 501 had confidence in George Abaraonye, while 1,228 voted to remove him.
A total of 1,746 people took part in Saturday’s vote, both in person and by proxy, with 17 spoilt, ballot or void.
Mr Abaraonye has disputed the result, claiming the poll was “compromised”.
A statement shared on his behalf alleges the returning officer who ran the election “shared around the email account collecting proxy votes” and claims they may have been “tampered with” as a result.
The result comes after the vote proceedings were informally suspended on Monday due to “an impossible working atmosphere”.
The returning officer was allegedly subjected to “obstruction, intimidation, and unwarranted hostility by a number of representatives”, a notice stated.
Mr Abaraonye’s latest statement said: “We equivocally deny that any representative appointed by George engaged in intimating or disruptive behaviour.”
He called the vote after he was accused of celebrating Kirk’s fatal shooting at one of his rallies at Utah Valley University in September.
Mr Abaraonye sparked controversy by writing in a WhatsApp chat with fellow students: “Charlie Kirk got shot, let’s f****** go”; and another post on Instagram read: “Charlie Kirk got shot loool”, reports said.
The union last month condemned his comments and opened disciplinary proceedings, while also condemning the racial abuse and threats Mr Abaraonye has faced.
He billed Saturday’s vote as an opportunity to reclaim “true accountability and (reaffirm) that the Oxford Union must remain a place where students can make mistakes, apologise sincerely, and learn from them”.
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Mr Abaraonye, who was elected the next president of the historic debating society earlier this year, described it as a chance for them to “stand against the racism of the Far Right, and to stand up for the principles the Union has championed for 200 years.
“Two centuries later, the same people who claim to believe in the Union are now acting in stark opposition to the Union’s founding principles, by supporting a campaign of harassment, censorship, and abuse.
“We will not be silenced.”
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Kirk, 31, was a political activist and podcaster and an ally of US President Donald Trump.
He co-founded and was chief executive of the right-wing youth organisation Turning Point USA.
He was shot dead during a student debate in what authorities called a political assassination.
Tyler Robinson, 22, from Utah, was last month charged with his murder.
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The Oxford Union, which was founded in 1823 and holds debates every Thursday during term time, is not part of the city’s university, but its membership is largely drawn from its students.
Founded in 1823, it bills itself as “the most prestigious debating society in the world”, which has hosted “world leaders, thinkers and influencers to debate issues and explore ideas across politics, religion, science, the arts and literature”.
