Corpus Christi College JCR voted last night to disaffiliate from the Cambridge University Students' Union (CUSU).

In a ballot held on Sunday, Corpus undergraduates voted for disaffiliation from the University students' union, with 71 per cent of students lending support to the motion to disaffiliate. 149 students voted in total.

The postgraduate MCR also voted to disaffiliate, with 81 per cent of students opting out of membership of CUSU.

This will make Corpus JCR the only JCR in the University to be disaffiliated, although Magdalene and Downing Colleges’ MCRs have also done so. The last time a JCR disaffiliated from CUSU was in March 2006 when Trinity College Students' Union voted to disaffiliate by a margin of only six votes.

Unsuccessful attempts were also made by Peterhouse students in Michaelmas 2009.

The move to disaffiliate comes after mounting frustration on the part of Corpus undergraduates and JCR members at the cost of membership, and the quality of service received. The JCR currently pays £2,800 to CUSU in affiliation fees.

The President of Corpus JCR, Rhys Grant, said that the Committee had not received clear information "as to what affiliation fees are used for and what CUSU actually does for JCR/MCR committees. We needed some clear reasons as to why we should stay affiliated when our affiliation fees are more than 10 per cent of our budget."

He added, "It’s hard to tell if this will affect Corpus students, but the general consensus seems to be that it won’t, other than that we now have an extra £2,800 to use as the JCR/MCR wish."

The affiliation fees paid by Corpus contribute only 0.6 per cent of CUSU’s funding. Approximately 20 per cent of the CUSU budget is made up of affiliation fees. However, coming at a time when questions are being raised at other Colleges about affiliation, the move will represent a significant blow to CUSU.

Corpus undergraduates will remain members of CUSU on an individual level, and thus will continue to be represented to the University by them and make use of the majority of their services.

The JCR is also eligible to remain as a member of the National Union of Students (NUS). The JCR will, however, lose their seats on CUSU Council.