Past elected presidents of the
Oxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest unive ...
are listed below, with their college and the year/term in which they served. ''Iterum'' indicates that a person was serving a second term as president (which is not possible under the current Union rules).
Key to colleges
Presidents of the United Debating Society
These are the Presidents as listed
Presidents of the Oxford Union Society
1826–1850
These are the presidents as listed:
1850–1875
1875–1900
1900–1925
1925–1950
1950–1975
1975–2000
2000–present
Other notable officeholders
The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury was Union Secretary in Michaelmas 1848.
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nickn ...
was Secretary of the Union in Hilary 1914, then Junior Treasurer (elected unopposed, which was then very unusual) in Trinity 1914; but for the war he would "almost certainly" have been President.
S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike was Treasurer in Trinity 1924.
was Librarian in 1931.
Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician and writer who served as the sixth President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliamen ...
served as Librarian and Secretary and lost two Presidential elections.
Norman St John-Stevas was Secretary of the Oxford Union but never became President despite his ambition to be the first person to be President of both Oxford and Cambridge Unions; he had been President of the
Cambridge Union during his undergraduate years, before he studied at Oxford.
Ann Widdecombe was Treasurer in 1972, after having served as Secretary the previous year.
was Librarian in 1990, losing the election for the presidency to future Education Secretary
Damian Hinds.
In fiction
*
Simon Kerslake (early 1950s), protagonist of the
Jeffrey Archer
Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist and former politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Louth (Lincolnshire) from 1969 to 1974, but did not seek re-election after a fina ...
novel ''
First Among Equals'', invites sitting Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
to propose the motion during
Eights Week that "This House Would Rather be a Commoner than a Lord". His future rival, The Hon. Charles Seymour, listens from the floor and resolves to enter politics also. Archer himself was elected to Standing Committee for one term in 1965.
Notes
References
;Bibliography
*
*Hollis, Christopher. The Oxford Union. London: Evans, 1965.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Presidents of the Oxford Union
Presidents