A male staffer for a Liberal MP attempted to identify himself as a woman as part of a sneaky factional deal to win a $12,000 executive position in a student election.

Alex Fitton, who works for New South Wales state MP Mark Taylor, vowed he was not a cisgender male in order to become joint general secretary of the University of Sydney Students' Representative Council on Wednesday night.

A cisgender male is a man whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth. The SRC's affirmative action policy stipulates the coveted council position can be shared by two people, but only if one of them identifies as a woman or a non-cisgender male.

The 11th-hour deal saw Mr Fitton defect from a rival factional grouping to run on a joint ticket with another student, Dylan Williams, who works for NSW Labor. In a controversial move, Labor factions had already teamed up with moderate Liberals to oppose a left-wing bloc.