the bicentenary booklet

1The Cambridge Union SoCieTy

Welcome Back toC A M B R I D G E

2 3Celebrating 200 Years the Cambridge Union soCietY

Printed and bound in Great Britain for the Cambridge Union Society.

This commemorative booklet was printed by Labute Group Ltd, Cambridge.

Designed by Craig Sladewww.craigslade.com

Recent Termcards can be found online at www.issuu.com/cscreative

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ContentsWelcome from the ChairWelcome from the PresidentWelcome from the Chair of the Board of Trustees

The Cambridge Union in Collaboration with Deloitte

The 2015 Steering CommitteeLent 2015 Standing CommitteeUnion Thanks

Debating at the Cambridge UnionTwo Hundred Years of ControversyRecollections: The Hon. Daniel Janner QCThe Future of 9a Bridge Street: Site DevelopmentRecollections: The Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Bean

Commemorative Merchandise

Previous Milestones & AnniversariesDebating the Issues that Matter for 200 YearsCUS Live: The New Streaming Service for Life Members'Cavernous, Tavernous': The Union & its Premises

The Bicentenary Debate: This House Isn't What it Used to BeThe 2015 Garden PartyThe London Debate

'Madam President': The Battle to Admit WomenContemporary Perspective: Women in the UnionRecollections: Karan ThaparAn Arena of AmbitionRecollections: Katie Lam

Cherish the Union's Past: Secure its FutureConnecting to Cambridge: Staying in TouchCambridge Union Society: A Vision of the Future

List of Presidents Past & PresentThank You from the Chair

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Welcome from the ChairAlex Forzani

GOOD evening. Firstly allow me to extend the warmest welcome, on behalf of the 2015 Steering Committee, Officers, Trustees and

Staff of the Cambridge Union Society, to a year of celebrations that will mark the Union’s bicentenary. This period is exciting for so many reasons, not least because it will mark the largest reunion of former officers and members to date. Furthermore different generations will be able to talk, discuss and recall, with enjoyment one hopes, their shared experiences of one of Cambridge’s most venerable institutions. This alone would be good cause for a celebration. How it all started The Union was founded in February 1815 and its inaugural meeting was far from grandiose. The first two-hundred members met in a small, even squalid, room perched at the back of the Red Lion Inn in Petty Cury, cheek-by-jowl with some of Cambridge’s poorest neighbourhoods. Almost instantaneously discussion began to thrive. This alarmed the University authorities to such an extent that on 24 March 1817 Dr. James Wood, Vice-Chancellor and Master of St John’s, demanded the Union’s dissolution. The response he received from the President William Whewell, which may or may not be apocryphal, was rather curt. The Vice-Chancellor and his party were asked to withdraw whereupon ‘the House would consider their demands’.

Union Front DoorSeptember 2013

Photo: Chris Williamson

From Petty Cury to 9a Bridge Street The Union has changed immeasurably over the last two hundred years. Since its inception the society has gone from strength to strength with many of its officers and members becoming leaders in government, the law, business, academia and journalism. Indeed the Union has a list of alumni of which any college would be envious. The Union continues to be one of the pre-eminent debating societies in the world. It is one of the few institutions that have won both the World Universities Debating Championships and the European Universities Debating Championships. The Union also continues to dominate the results tables at the national Inter-Varsity debating competitions. In addition, the Union runs phenomenal access schemes. The Cambridge Union Schools Debating Competition, which will mark its twenty-fifth anniversary in this year, allows thousands of secondary school students, from a range of institutions across the British Isles, to have fun; discuss topical issues and learn how to speak and debate in public. By providing a considerable number of means-tested bursaries, the Union enables hundreds of students to enter this competition who would otherwise find it impossible to do so. Of course many will remember the Union as a place that gave its members the opportunity to meet, listen and question decisions-makers and public figures. The Union has a proud history of attracting world leaders, irrespective of their fields and beliefs, which continues to this day. Union audiences have been privileged to hear Sir Winston Churchill, the Dalai Lama, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and Margaret Thatcher as well as other prominent individuals who have shaped the last two centuries.

Looking to the Future This bicentennial year represents an opportunity to reconnect with the Union. Our February Debate, Summer Garden Party and London Event are all designed to honour the spirit of the Union’s past, but also to look to its future. As part of our commitment to ensuring that the Union prospers, you will find throughout this commemorative booklet examples of what we have planned over the coming years. Our increased digital reach; new building projects and plans to strengthen our debating programmes all feature heavily in this vision of the future. The Union means something incredibly special to me. My first contact with the University was through the Schools Debating Programme and the abiding memory of my first week as an undergraduate was the Thursday night debate. I am proud to be involved with the Union and can honestly say, without hubris or hesitation, that it has had a profound impact on my life. I am sure that all former officers and members will agree with this sentiment. I hope you enjoy the bicentenary year.

Alex Forzani Chair, 2015 Steering Committee Vice President, 2012-2013


AS we celebrate the Union Society’s bicentenary it is an appropriate moment to reflect on the place that it occupies today in the life of Cambridge

and its future direction and significance as part of the Cambridge student experience.

The Union, as its founders intended, happily remains a beacon for the fearless exchange of ideas through accomplished debate and for upholding the principles of freedom of speech – as crucial today as it was when the Union was founded. Every term successive Union committees still assemble an extraordinarily diverse group of speakers whose attendance at and participation in the Unions various activities affirms and reaffirms week by week its basic ‘raison d’etre’. That the Union is able to provide reliably and regularly these life enhancing opportunities for its members, who still constitute the largest society in the University, explains why the Union, on its two hundredth birthday, remains such an important Cambridge institution.

I am also very pleased, as I reach the end of my tenure as Chairman of the Trustees, that the Union is able to face the future with such confidence. The joint project with Trinity College to develop the land adjacent to the Chamber and modernise and restore our wonderful Waterhouse building will, I hope, meet definitively the various financial and administrative challenges that the Trustees have been facing over the last decade. The Union’s recent outstanding performance nationally and internationally in debating competitions and the expansion of its own Cambridge Union Schools’ Debating Competition show that its primary activity is in rude health and set to grow even stronger. Finally drawing on the Union’s rich and varied history and its exciting current programmes, and by exploiting the best on-line technologies, it is set to extend its reach and spread its influence as a key student forum for the free exchange of ideas on the important issues of the day – at the same time as cherishing and protecting its special identity which we so proudly celebrate during this anniversary.

Welcome from the Lent 2015 PresidentAmy Gregg

Welcome from theChair of theBoard of TrusteesSir Richard Dearlove KCMG OBE

WELCOME to the Union’s 200th Anniversary! We’ve been working hard over the past few months to put together a termcard that is

packed with top speakers and fantastic events to start our bicentenary year with a bang. We welcome current members and those who left Cambridge long ago to join us for what promises to be an exciting term.

Our Lent 2015 programme of inspirational and influential speakers ranges from US politician Sarah Palin, to well-loved illustrator Quentin Blake, comedian Simon Amstell, eminent journalist Jon Snow, feminist icon Germaine Greer, musician Bonnie Tyler, entrepreneur Theo Paphitis and former Deputy President of the Supreme Court Lord Hope. With such a diverse range of prominent figures, there is something on offer for everyone.

Our topical and controversial debates tackle issues ranging from politics and religion to science and sex. Prominent Labour and Conservative politicians will debate the fate of Britain following the general election and Stephen Fry will join Peter Hitchens to oppose the disestablishment of the Church. Dr Norman Finkelstein and the founder of Yachad will argue whether Israel is a rogue state, the CEO of the UK Space Agency will defend the cost of space exploration, and a motion on legalising the sex industry will see the highest paid UK sex worker debate the leader

of controversial feminist movement FEMEN. Lent will also see the return of the popular comedy debate, featuring top Footlights, Oxford comics and a star of Made in Chelsea.

Beyond speakers and debates, our forums will provide the opportunity to discuss the future of the European Union, the relationship between faith and feminism, and a chance to grill each of the Prospective Parliamentary Candidates for Cambridge.

This term’s line up of Ents promises to be one of the best ever, with the much anticipated Bicentenary Ball, ‘A Night in History,’ joined by ArcSoc’s ‘Saturate’ themed cabaret, the Itchy Feet Valentines Ball, a

Rainbow Bop in collaboration with Rag, and a Superbowl Party. The much loved weekly cocktail workshops, zumba, pilates, yoga and meditation will all return, along with numerous post debate ents with live music and fantastic cocktails in the 1815 Bar.

I look forward to welcoming you back to Cambridge.

Amy GreggPresident, Lent 2015

The Cambridge UnionRound Church St, 1886

The Union in SummerJune 2013

Phot

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DELOITTE is privileged to be supporting the Cambridge Union Society in its 200th anniversary year. The Union’s relationship with

the firm is now well into its second year and Deloitte continues to be proud of its collaboration with the world’s most prestigious student debating society. As a firm whose business and societal impact is built around an ability to challenge, provide insight and offer innovative thinking, partnering with a society that has such an illustrious history of challenging a wide range of ideas, opinions and beliefs, is perfect for Deloitte. Through the collaboration, Deloitte has enabled the Union to reach an increasingly large and diverse audience. Projects conducted to date include the new CUS Live audio visual system, which allows members to watch events at the Union from wherever they are in the world. Deloitte has also revamped the website with a resulting expansion in social media and on-line presence for today’s increasingly connected student audience. With an eye to the Union’s future members, the firm is also enhancing the Union’s access programme via a wider participation in the school’s debating competition.

David Sproul, Chief Executive of Deloitte, said: ‘Deloitte has a long tradition of recruiting Cambridge alumni and we count ex Union Presidents, Vice Presidents, Officers and life members amongst our staff, globally. We’re delighted that many of them will be taking part in the celebrations and events during 2015. ‘We know that, for many people, the bicentenary celebrations will be a chance to reconnect and meet old friends and colleagues, and to celebrate the diversity of thought borne of the Union. This is also an unrivalled opportunity to increase awareness of the Union within a new and future audience and we are delighted to be actively helping with that. I would like to offer my congratulations and best wishes on this exciting milestone. I am looking forward to taking part in some of the early celebrations in 2015 and meeting some of you that have an association with the Union’s impressive history.’

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The Cambridge Unionin Collaboration with Deloitte


The 2015 Steering Committee Lent 2015 Standing CommitteeAlex ForzaniChairVice President 2012-2013

Joanna MobedEditorialPresident Michaelmas 2013

Stephen ParkinsonDeputy ChairmanPresident Lent 2004

Daniel HymanContinuity OfficerTreasurer, Easter 2013

Nicholas WrightStanding Committee LiaisonVice President, 2014-15

Nicholas WrightVice President

William Fitzalan HowardExecutive Officer-Elect

Sophie OdenthalCo-TreasurerSpeakers Officer, Michaelmas 2011

Imogen SchönCo-TreasurerPresident, Lent 2014

Oliver MosleyDirector of Communications

Oliver MosleyExecutive Officer

Róisín HannonTreasurer

James HuttSpeakers Officer

Jack LewyTreasurer-Elect

Katherine RegglerTreasurer-Elect

Sachin ParathalingamSocial Events Officer

Matt HazellDebating Officer

Helen LamSocial Events Officer-Elect

Thomas SimpsonDebating Officer

Lance FormanPresident, Lent 1985

William BaileyBursar

The Hon. Daniel Janner QCMember of the Board of TrusteesPresident, Michaelmas 1978

Jiameng GaoTechnical OfficerTreasurer, Lent 2014

Andy AitkenDeloitte Liaison



Christoph EpaminondasPresident-Elect


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Board of Trustees

Sir Richard Dearlove KCMG OBE (Chairman) Dr Nigel Brown OBE

Mr Andy Swarbrick FCA Dr Nigel Yandell

Mr Nick Heath FRICS The Hon Daniel Janner QC

Janet Turner QC Ms Amy Gregg

Review Committee

Julien Domercq (President, Michaelmas 2009) Joshua Blanchard Lewis (Vice President, 2008-9)

Jan Jonathan Bock (Senior Committee Member, Michaelmas 2009) Lauren Davidson (President, Lent 2011) Alex Forzani (Vice-President, 2012-13)

Joel Fenster (President, Easter 2013) Rahul Mansigani (Treasurer, Easter 2010)

Sophie Odenthal (Speakers Officer, Michaelmas 2011)

Col. William Bailey MBE (Ret’d)Dr. David Sellick

Rachel Ford Joe Burman

Patrick Hanwell Ben Keen

Bartłomiej FajerSam Haskell

Bursar Accountant Office Supervisor Events Manager Site Supervisor Bar Manager Barman Senior Webmaster

Staff

Deloitte LLPMendeleyRathbonesBirketts LLP

Key Capital PartnersMattioli Woods PLC

Thermoteknix Systems Ltd

Friends of the Union

Union Thanks

The Union would also like to extend their personal thanks to Alex Forzani, the Chair, for the tremendous display of leadership and

flawless work ethic he has shown along with his team in preparing the Union for what they are certain will be an extraordinary term.

Thanks also to Craig Slade for all of the hard work he has put into the design and production of this commemorative booklet.

Every effort has been made to credit all photography used in this booklet wherever possible.


THE Union has consistently reaffirmed its status as one of most competitive debating societies in the world. Cambridge teams continue to reach

the final stages of the World Universities Debating Championships, now a tournament with over a thousand competitors from over forty countries, and our debaters are frequently ranked among the very best in the world. Last academic year, Cambridge speakers collectively won at least nineteen debating tournaments in the UK, Europe and North America – nearly more than all the other UK debating societies combined. This unprecedented success is maintained by a rigorous series of workshops and practice debates run by Cambridge’s leading debaters, as well as an ever-expanding process of internal recruitment through the Union’s public-facing events. This programme does not just help the already proficient build on their skills; over the last few years, the Union has taken speakers barely able to string a sentence together in public and turned them into international champions – something for which many could not be more grateful.

Debating, especially at Cambridge, is a tremendous privilege, and the Union is constantly looking to offer that privilege to as many people as possible, both internally and externally. In addition to running one of the world’s most prestigious university-level debating tournaments, the Union hosts one to two annual competitions for school students across the country and the world. These tournaments, the Cambridge Schools Debating Competition and the International Competition for Young Debaters – which the Union hosts biennially – give thousands of school students the opportunity to debate every year. Almost every round is judged by a Cambridge debater, who will give students extensive individual feedback and advice for future improvement, as well as answering any questions students may have about debating, university or both. A robust access programme, including ever-expanding bursaries and workshops for broadening participation, ensures that a wider range of students can compete every year. Given the Union’s extraordinary past, it is often difficult to believe that today’s Society is living up to its history; yet nothing could better honour that legacy than the simple fact that this year hundreds of schoolchildren will first experience the challenge and the thrill of making their point in public at a Cambridge Union tournament.

Competitive Debating at the Cambridge UnionMichael Dunn-Goekjian, President Easter 2014

Tim Squirrell, President Michaelmas 2014November 2014



Union frontageMichaelmas 2013



FOR the last two centuries, the Cambridge Union has never been far from controversy. Indeed, the Society owes its foundation to a row. Edward

Gambier, an Old Etonian at Trinity, was blackballed from a smaller, existing debating society; his friends rallied round him, merged it with two other clubs, and elected Gambier their first President. The Union’s inaugural meeting was held 13 February 1815, and its first debate – ‘Was the conduct of the Opposition in refusing Places in 1812 justifiable?’ – took place one week later (the Noes won, 35–33). Gambier’s successor, Viscount Normanby, was a future Home Secretary and Viceroy of Ireland. But no debates were held in his term: an open drain in Jesus Lane caused an outbreak of fever and everyone at the University was sent home. It was a feverish time in other senses: Europe was on the verge of the Hundred Days which ended the Napoleonic Wars – not an auspicious time for a debating society based on the high principle of free speech to be taking its first steps. A nervous Parliament had just passed the Seditious Meetings Act – and the Union had the temerity to vote against the new Habeas Corpus Suspension Act. Such behaviour was bound to attract the attention of the authorities. On the night of 24 March 1817, the University’s proctors burst into a Union meeting with a message from the Vice-Chancellor demanding its dissolution and forbidding the resumption of debates. The President in the chair that night, William Whewell, was a future Vice-Chancellor himself. He rose with calm dignity: ‘Strangers will please to withdraw, and the House will take the message into consideration.’ News of the row

reached The Times and was mentioned in the House of Commons – but the Union was forced into silence, and operated as a reading club for the next four years. Its enterprising members still found a way to debate, however. Private business meetings on ostensibly mundane matters – for instance, which newspapers and periodicals to subscribe to – were used as proxy motions to debate political questions. Restrictions from the University, when debates were allowed to resume in 1821 – banning any political subject from the last twenty years to be debated – were similarly disregarded by adding ‘twenty years ago’ to every motion. All restrictions were finally lifted in 1830, and the Union has debated what it wants to ever since.

The motion of ‘No Confidence’ in His or Her Majesty’s Government remains an annual tradition. Labour governments used to fare worse than Conservative ones: the Union voted against them at each

of the ‘No Confidence’ debates during the Attlee, Wilson, and Callaghan administrations. Its early enthusiasm for Mrs. Thatcher waned in 1981 but bounced back after the Falklands. A heavy defeat in Michaelmas 1989 broke a three-year run of success. The New Labour governments held the confidence of more recent generations with few exceptions – even the invasion of Iraq, which the Union opposed from the outset, doing little to shake its support. The present coalition – which has included three ex-Presidents among its Cabinets – has been defeated in every year of its existence with the exception of 2010.

More extreme political views were aired in the 1930s. Two of the last Presidents before the Second World War became prominent Communists – Mohan Kumaramangalam (Michaelmas 1938) in India, and Pieter Keuneman (Michaelmas 1939) in Ceylon – while Michael Straight, the glamorous American Vice-President of the Union in Easter 1937, later spied for the KGB. The motion ‘This House prefers Fascism to Socialism’ was only defeated 335–218 in February 1933. Sir Oswald Mosley’s ‘scintillating performance’ and ‘magnificent oratory carried an enthusiastic House off its feet’ – but the debate was won by the calmer performance of a young Labour MP, Major C.R. Attlee. Mosley caused waves again in the 1950s and ’60s – particularly in 1961, when a young Ken Clarke decided to invite him to address the University Conservative Association for the second time in eighteen months. The Union hosted the meeting, which played a key role in the Society’s elections that term: Michael Howard resigned from the Conservative Association in protest, ran against Clarke for Secretary of the Union, and won. A ‘sit-in’ by more than a hundred students tried to stop Enoch Powell speaking at the Union in 1969, but this – alongside the Garden House Riot – was the closest Cambridge came to the spirit of the soixante-huitards. Protesters have, however, been a regular sight outside the Union – trying, for instance, to disrupt meetings with Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2003 and his daughter Marine ten years later. But on both occasions a packed chamber showed the Society’s disapproval far more effectively: with searching questions and free debate.

Some of the most heated rows down the centuries, however, have concerned the Union’s perpetually arcane electoral rules or navel-gazing issues, such the dress code for debates. Jack Ashley, the first working-class President, caused uproar by not wearing black tie in Lent 1951, though he ‘was not standing on any great principle – I simply couldn’t afford an evening suit’. The Union’s termly elections have provided 200 years of inventive procedural rows. Tam Dalyell’s third and final pitch for the presidency was thwarted by the drawing of billiard balls in the small hours of the morning. One of the most contentious elections of all, in Michaelmas 1961, pitted an American, Barry Augenbraun, against Brian Pollitt, son of the former general secretary of the British Communist Party, at the height of the Cold War. When the result was declared in the Union bar, BBC cameras were there to report it. But the result was soon declared void – the result of suspected canvassing – and the resulting by-election was won by John Gummer. When Pollitt ran again the following June, he was attacked in his rooms and briefly hospitalised – but won by a comfortable margin. As the Union embarks on its third century, it seems unlikely to shy away from future controversy.

Two Hundred Years of ControversyStephen Parkinson

The ChamberMichaelmas 2010

‘Restrictions from the University banning debating any political

subject from the last twenty yearswere disregarded by adding

‘twenty years ago’ to every motion’


MY father was President in Lent 1952. To encourage me to work harder for my ‘A’ levels he took me up in 1974 to watch

him debate against his old friend Douglas Hurd (who had succeeded him to the Presidency). I am not sure whether it worked. Toby Harris was in the Chair, and I was horrified at how rude (albeit amusingly) the students were about their President. By the time I arrived in Cambridge, I had decided to follow in my father’s footsteps. My first big break came when Karan Thapar offered me a paper speech in the politics debate with Shirley Williams. After a few more paper speeches and a lot of canvassing, I became President in Michaelmas 1978. Although we had an action-packed term which included Prince Charles delivering the Hugh Anderson Memorial Lecture, the press interest focused on a visit by former President Nixon. Unfortunately, it was not a visit to us but to the Oxford Union. Having originally accepted my invitation, he switched to Oxford and offered me breakfast at Claridge’s instead. In the event, no breakfast arrived, but I had half an hour’s memorable political advice from Nixon. Nevertheless, I decided that a career in law was the safer option.

The following summer I joined Andrew Mitchell, who had signed us up for the world debating competition in Australia. Regrettably we didn’t appreciate the need for a visa and had to spend a few days in Bangkok sorting it out. We missed the competition but enjoyed a tour around Australia! Thanks to Stephen Parkinson and Jon Lawrence, I returned 30 years later as a Trustee. It has been a great privilege serving under the chairmanship of Sir Richard Dearlove together with fellow committed trustees. I have no recollection whatsoever of ever having met a trustee as a student. It is very different now. We work closely and constructively with Officers and Standing Committee members and our superb Bursar, Bill Bailey, to ensure the continued well-being of this unique Cambridge institution.

Recollections: The Hon. Daniel Janner QCPresident, Michaelmas 1978

Robert Harris interviews the Great Train RobbersEaster 1978

Daniel Janner's TermcardMichaelmas 1978


THE Union buildings have remained largely unchanged since their construction in the 1860s and the addition of the library wing in the

1880s. This situation is about to change. Subject to planning permission, exciting site development plans are underway with contracts already signed with our partner, Trinity College. The deal will allow the Union to fund key changes to the main building in order to overcome significant structural issues and radically improve facilities for members.

Many will remember that the changes made to Waterhouse’s Victorian buildings in the 1930s were not of the same quality as the original construction. Eighty years on, problems with creeping damp, buckling walls, bowing windows and broken drainage pipes warrant urgent repairs.

New Opportunities for the UnionThe Union is seizing the opportunity to develop its functional areas by improving street access, security and building presentation. Replacing the 1930s construction will be a new ‘Link Building’ which as the name suggests will connect a three-storey development to the Union’s original Victorian buildings. New entrances will be built on Round Church Street and from the Union car park on Park Street. The water damaged façade and bowing windows on Round Church Street will be removed and the original Victorian frontage restored thereby

improving our street presence. The Union’s growing reputation for being able to handle controversial speakers will be further improved with the addition of period-sensitive wrought iron fences and an electronic gate into the car park.

Possible Street Elevations from Round Church Street and Park Street (see above)Internally the improvements are no less exciting. From a new two-storey high glass-fronted reception area for guests, to improved disabled access via new lifts to every floor, the developments are long overdue. A new commercial kitchen on the first floor will be able to service café/bar and dining facilities on three floors, including the old ‘Footlights’ area in the basement. A new entrance to the library will allow room capacity for members to increase by a third.

Moving ForwardWe are currently working hard on finalising the designs for this project. Subject to planning permission being granted, construction could start as early as September 2015. This is expected to take up to 18 months.

This site development opportunity will dramatically improve access to the Union and its street presence. It resolves many of our structural problems and provides significantly better facilities for members.

The Future of 9a Bridge Street:Site DevelopmentBill Bailey, Bursar

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I STARTED at the Union as a shy and nervous speaker. This changed in one day, 5 November 1973. The Society was undergoing a brief period

of internal combustion: I have forgotten why, but it seemed very important at the time. A business meeting had been called to debate a motion of no confidence in the Officers and Standing Committee. The President, Mark Goyder, was due to speak that evening in a debate at the Oxford Union (who they? – Ed.) but could not go, so he asked me to take his place. There was just enough time to get there, and no time to worry about it. I survived, and never got stage fright again. My first attempt to be elected an officer (Secretary) ended in defeat by 41 votes. Rather than try for Secretary again the next term I decided on a re-match against the same opponent. To my surprise, and probably everyone else’s, I was elected Vice-President – it would now be called President-Elect – by a majority of well over 200 votes. My term as President, Lent 1975, was the 160th anniversary of the Union’s foundation. Almost all the subjects for debate would still be topical. A motion that ‘The British mass media are abusing their freedom’ was defeated by the overwhelming margin

of 336 to 48; another, that ‘The Abortion Act [of 1967] went too far’, by 363 to 211. I chose a third motion, that ‘The law is an overpaid and over-rated profession’, confidently expecting that it would be carried. But looking at the audience from the Chair I could see that the Law Faculty must have put on a three-line whip. The resolution was heavily defeated. We had lectures from C.P. Snow, Roy Jenkins (then Home Secretary), and Selwyn Lloyd (then Speaker of the House of Commons). We would also have had Harold Macmillan, to whom I was introduced on a second visit to Oxford, but it was too late for him to come to be made an honorary member during my term. When he did come, during Peter Bazalgette’s presidency, it was a great Union occasion, with a packed House and extracts shown on television. The Cambridge Union did a great deal for me; and many of the friends I made there have remained friends for life. ‘Forty years on, growing older and older’, the Society’s bicentenary brings back vivid and happy memories.

Recollections: The Rt. Hon. Lord Justice BeanPresident, Lent 1975

David Bean's TermcardLent 1975


Bespoke Cambridge Union merchandise will be available to purchase after the Bicentenary debate.

Cambridge Union Scarf, produced by A&E Clothiers, the university's specialist outfitters – £24.00

Cambridge Union Silk Bowtie – £25.00

To place an order, please visit the merchandise desk after the debate. Alternatively, email Joanna Mobed on [email protected].

telegraph.co.uk

Telegraph Media Group congratulates the Cambridge Union on its 200th anniversary

Commemorative Merchandise

Photo: Jiameng Gao


The ChamberMichaelmas 2013



THE Union did not celebrate its first centenary. The outbreak of the First World War six months earlier meant that plans to mark it were

abandoned: a belated dinner and debate were finally held on 15 November 1921. HRH The Duke of York – the future King George VI – spoke before a debate on the motion ‘That in the opinion of this House the reaction from Victorianism is proving the curse of the age’ and proclaimed himself ‘exceedingly proud of being a life member of this famous Union.’ The Great War soon put a halt to the Union’s regular activities too. Debates were formally suspended on 8 May 1916 and not resumed until February 1919. More than two thousand members of the University were killed in the war, among them three ex-Presidents: A.C.O. Morgan (Easter 1906), F.D. Livingstone (Easter 1907) and J.H. Allen (Easter 1911). A similar toll was taken during the Second World War, which claimed the lives of Anthony Blackwell (Michaelmas 1933), Peter Hague (Easter 1939), and John Simonds (Lent 1938). The election of officers was suspended during both wars: the Vice-President who proposed the second suspension in Michaelmas 1939, Eddie Ades, was killed in action as a Desert Rat in Libya; Gervase Stewart, one of the ‘chairmen of debates’ who oversaw limited debating during the period 1939–44, was killed in a mid-air explosion over the Caribbean in 1941.

A debate on international affairs between the wars drew the highest division in the Union’s history: in Michaelmas 1919 the Duke of Northumberland and Lord Robert Cecil clashed on the motion ‘That this House considers the League of Nations to be worthless as a guarantee of international peace and to be a radically unsound and dangerous project’. It was defeated by 723 to 280 – the total vote of 1,003 not including the many more who crowded into the building that night. (The lowest division was recorded much earlier, in 1839, when the question ‘Does the philosophy of Locke deserve the approbation of posterity?’ was defeated 5–0.)

The Union elected its first Jewish President, Alfred Louis, in Lent 1850, six years before Jews were allowed to take their degrees, and its first ethnic minority President, the Ceylonese James Peiris, in Michaelmas 1882 – fifty years before another black or Asian President at Oxford or Cambridge. It was in the midst of the American Civil War that Union elected its first President from the United States. William Everett (Michaelmas 1862) hailed from Massachusetts, and was snubbed when a debate in his term divided heavily in favour of the Confederate states. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Everett did not take a favourable impression of the Union back to America: in a series of lectures he gave at Harvard on his return, he described the Union’s debates as ‘beneath contempt’:

‘In general, they are death itself. There comes every now and then a season when a few active souls stir the Union into life. But even then the animation cannot create the habit of good speaking, to which the whole genius of the place is opposed; and the most intelligent audiences of Cambridge young men, always professing the most thorough contempt for rhetoric, are habitually carried off their feet by the most worn-out claptrap.’

A Union debating tour of America has tried to carry that claptrap across the Atlantic since the 1920s:

the first tour was led by three Presidents, including R.A. Butler (Easter 1924). Jack Ashley, who went with the future High Court Judge Sir Ronald Waterhouse, recalled that ‘the Americans treated us like visiting celebrities’; Michael Howard enjoyed it so much he stayed in America for a year – ‘one of the great experiences of my life’. A debate in Michaelmas 1947 was the first to be broadcast live on the radio by the BBC – much to the frustration of the Oxford Union. The Society beat its younger sister once more in Easter 1950, when it

Previous Milestones & AnniversariesStephen Parkinson

Running order for the 1965 150th Anniversary Debate

became the first to have a debate televised – albeit from London, the BBC transporting the President’s chair, Secretary’s desk and a number of benches to Alexandra Palace specially. A few weeks later, the President who had chaired that debate – the future Cabinet Minister and Master of Emmanuel, Norman St. John-Stevas, organised a ‘Boat Race’ with his counterpart at Oxford, Robin Day. It took place in May Week on the river Cam, was filmed by the BBC, and the two Presidents coxed their respective boats in full evening dress and top hats. For the Union’s 150th anniversary in 1965, a celebratory debate and dinner were held on Saturday 13 February, when a packed House considered the question: ‘Should this House move to further business?’ The speakers, all for the affirmative, were a galaxy of ex-Presidents: the former Foreign Secretary and Chancellor Selwyn Lloyd, the Attorney General Sir Elwyn Jones, the editor of The Economist Sir Geoffrey Crowther, Humphry Berkeley MP, and the popular Union wit Alistair Sampson. Jeremy Burford, President later that year, recalls drinking an 1815 Madeira which had been laid down after the Battle of Waterloo, and evidently gone past its prime: ‘it was like eating a slightly alcoholic Crunchie bar’. By Michaelmas 1981, the Union had clearly got a taste for anniversaries, and marked its 500th term with a feast at King’s with the ex-President and former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Ramsey (Lent 1926), as guest of honour. It was also decided that term that the Union should enter the World Debating Competition – though it was not until 2003 that Cambridge would claim the title. The Union’s last landmark anniversary was its 175th in 1990. A disco was held at the Union in March, and a more formal dinner at the Savoy in October. The successful Schools Debating Competition was also established. But the highlight of the celebrations was the visit of Ronald Reagan on 5 December. Members started queuing early in the morning; by the time he arrived, they stretched for nearly a quarter of a mile. In his address, President Reagan reminded them that the Union stood for something venerable:

‘The free and open expression of ideas – and debate over these ideas – is a heritage that Britain has given all of us in the democratic world. It has been an integral process of the long evolution of representative democracy since the knights confronted King John at Runnymede. It is an essential part of the British spirit, seemingly ingrained in all of you. I think I hear it in the music of Benjamin Britten, Elgar and Handel. I read it in the poetry of Shakespeare, Donne and Milton and the prose of Dickens. The passion for free expression seems to permeate your culture just as it does your Union here.’

President Theodore Roosevelt Addressing the Union

1910


THE Chamber was packed. If fire regulations had been enforced then scores of members and even the BBC film crew would likely have been

turned away. This was the Cambridge Union Society in February 1965 when Norman St. John-Stevas (later Lord St. John of Fawsley) ascended the dais and introduced a debate that was of critical importance for historians and social commentators. Yet those of you uninterested by the historiographical debates at the heart of twentieth century American history should not stop reading. The motion, which asked whether ‘the American dream had been achieved at the expense of the American Negro’, was fiercely contested by bitter ideological rivals from across the pond, James Baldwin and William F. Buckley, Jr. Baldwin was a prominent American novelist, essayist and social critic whose works explored the interactions of race and class in American society. Buckley was a conservative author and public intellectual who had founded the magazine National Review. Diametrically opposed to each other in thought, these two men produced one of the most stimulating debates that the Union has witnessed in its two hundred years of history. Speaking in proposition, Baldwin made a moving appeal to the floor. He contended that it came ‘as a great shock around the age of 5, 6 or 7 to discover that the flag to which you have pledged allegiance, along with everybody else, has not pledged allegiance to you’. Buckley riposted by attempting to disassociate Baldwin’s personal experience from that of the entirety of the African American community and suggesting, albeit rhetorically, that the alternative ‘was abandonment of the American dream’. In the end, Baldwin won comfortably as the Union overwhelmingly supported his view of American society rather than that of his opponent. To mark the fiftieth anniversary of this historic debate the Union will, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge History Faculty, be bringing historians, journalists and commentators from across the globe to Cambridge to debate and discuss the progress of the civil rights movement since the clash between Baldwin and Buckley. One only hopes that this event will be as stimulating and thought-provoking as its predecessor in 1965.

Debating the Issues that Matter for Two Hundred YearsAmerican Dreams: James Baldwin v. William F. Buckley, Jr.

AS the global appeal of the Union’s events widens, and the number of life members living far away from Cambridge increases, the Union has

continued to embrace new ways of enabling greater access to the Union for members and speakers alike. As we enter our anniversary year, the Union is pleased to announce that all events hosted in the Chamber or the Library are now being broadcast live and in high definition from a discreet and fully automated multi-camera rig. Members can watch the debate or speaker event online, and contribute by tweeting @CambridgeUnion. The presiding officer can then read out your questions or comments on the floor of the Union. All events are recorded, and uploaded to our public YouTube channel at the end of the term at YouTube.com/CambridgeUnionSoc. You can access CUS Live from anywhere in the world by logging in with your membership details atCUS.org/CUSLive. If you joined the Union before online access, or if you have forgotten your details, please email [email protected] or call the main office on (+44) (0) 1223 566 421 to be set up with a simple-to-use online account.

Whilst enabling greater access for non-resident members is a key part of our bicentenary strategy, we have also been adapting to the demands of a modern debating society. As part of the CUS Live project we have also created a professional remote speaker system that will allow us to host speakers from anywhere in the world. Remote speakers are given access to a secure feed of the Chamber, and will be able to speak in the debate as if they were there in person. This new technology demonstrated its most powerful effect when a Thursday-night debate on the Arab Spring featured a speaker from conflict-ridden Cairo. This coming term we also hope to host Judge Richard Posner, speaking to us from Chicago, on capitalism and global development. By enabling greater access to the Union for members and speakers alike, we will continue to modernise the Union’s appeal, whilst retaining its heritage. As members of the Union, both resident and non-resident, we hope you will take advantage of this new service.

CUS Live: The New Streaming Service for Life Members Oliver Mosley, Director of Communications

The Union’s new audiovisual equipmentMichaelmas 2014



Sir Ian McKellen addressing the UnionLent 2011

Photo: Helen Simmons


THE first members of the Cambridge Union met in a small room at the back of the Red Lion inn in Petty Cury, now long since demolished. They

occupied a reading room, with access to a larger room for their debates – so long as the landlord did not need it for other purposes. They were obviously demanding tenants: in 1826, they persuaded him to build a new reading room, ‘double the size of the existing room, to be in the constant occupation of the Union Society’. But still they were not satisfied with their accommodation. Richard Monckton-Milnes, the poet, politician, and early Union devotee, described the debating chamber as ‘a low, ill-ventilated, ill-lit gallery’, and as ‘cavernous, tavernous – something between a commercial-room and a district-branch-meeting-house’.

In 1832, the Society moved to new rooms built for it at the back of the Hoop Inn in Bridge Street, on part of the land where the Union stands today. They had a much larger debating chamber – and sole use of a servant – but soon outgrew their premises again. In 1850 they decamped to a former Wesleyan chapel in Green Street, but once again this makeshift home

proved inadequate, and there was a growing desire for the Union to have premises of its own. In 1857, it established a building fund, eventually purchasing a plot of land behind the Round Church from St. John’s College. An architect was chosen by a ballot of all members. A young Alfred Waterhouse beat George Gilbert Scott, though not to the joy of later generations: Douglas Hurd thought the ‘dark red building’ must have been ‘designed by Waterhouse in a gloomy mood’. Its foundation stone was laid ‘with much state and pomp’ on 4 June 1864, and the building formally opened on 30 October 1866.

With its own home at last, the Union flourished – so much so that a new wing, again designed by Waterhouse, had to be added within twenty years. A banquet for 180 people marked its opening on 24 February 1886, and Waterhouse was appointed the Union’s first honorary member.

‘Cavernous, Tavernous’:The Union & its PremisesStephen Parkinson

Substantial renovations in Easter 1933 removed much of his Victorian gothic interior. The library, which had previously occupied most of the ground floor, was moved upstairs to the old smoking and drawing rooms, and a new members’ dining room, bar lounge and a smoking room were installed downstairs. The bar itself was initially hidden behind a retractable panel in the wall, and was not pictured in pre-war recruitment leaflets sent to freshers for fear of alarming their parents. Even in its earliest days, members joined the Union for reasons other than debating. It maintained a library from the outset, and in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, its clubhouse facilities were the main draw. Out of the first Union ball in 1954 grew regular ‘ents’ – now a thriving part of the Union’s activities. A young Geoffrey Howe wasa member of the Union’s first dance sub-committee, and the equally improbable figure of Simon Heffer was Director of Ents in Lent 1980, arranging such licentious entertainments as a Sixties night, a Las Vegasevening, and a ‘juvenile delinquents party’. Some of the Union’s activities have withered, of course: the kitchens which once employed four staff to provide lunches and teas for members have stood empty for more than a decade, but the decline started long before. The Union building was comandeered early in the Second World War, providing classrooms for a Training Wing of the RAF, and its basement converted into a public air raid shelter. Cambridge was largely spared the depredations of the Luftwaffe – but, shortly after 3 a.m. on 28 July 1942, a German aircraft dropped eight high explosive and three incendiary bombs on the centre of the town. One of the main casualties was the Union – incredibly, the only building associated with the University to receive a direct hit.

One of the high explosives and several firebombs hit the library, smashing an enormous hole in the roof, blowing out most of the windows on that side of the building, and starting a huge blaze. The weight of falling masonry ripped another hole in the floor, and so much water was pumped into the building by the fire service that it was still trickling down to

the ground the next morning. Three people were killed – including an active member of the Union – and the trauma of that evening hastened the death of Stanley Brown, the Union’s chief clerk of almost forty years, who helped to tackle the blaze while still in his slippers. His death the following February was a huge loss to the Society, coming at one of its lowest ebbs. The War Damage Commission helped, but a restoration appeal was needed to pay for the rebuilding of the Union. All life members were written to, and distinguished alumni rallied round. By the end of 1946, an overdraft of £8,000 had become a surplus of £1,000 – but it was not until the end of 1949 that the repairs were completed. The dilapidated Union building was taken into the complete possession of the Army for a week in March 1944. All the staff were sent away on leave except

the new chief clerk, who was confined to his office and allowed no communication with the rest of the building. All doors to the basement were securely fastened, and sentries with Bren guns were posted round the

Union – one of a handful of buildings in Cambridge used to hold large-scale models of the Normandy beaches before D-Day. The operation lasted four days, 28–31 March, after which the men and material used were taken away with the same secrecy, and no trace of their work was left behind. The Union had another scrape with disaster in June 1975. Peter Bazalgette, the newly elected President, was enjoying his fifth May Week party of the day when he received the news that careless workmen had over-fed a fire in the Union basement. The flue had ignited, causing considerable damage to the chamber, and taking most of the roof with it. Again, former officers rallied round: Norman Lamont (Lent 1964) chaired a meeting of ex-Presidents in Westminster; Christopher Norman-Butler (Lent 1958), a banker, persuaded the Union’s insurers to pay in full. Some old Methodist pews were found to restore the seating in the gallery – where Bazalgette invited the craftsmen who had helped to restore the chamber to watch the first debate of Michaelmas Term.

‘A low, ill-ventilated, ill-lit gallery – cavernous, tavernous – something between a commercial-room and a

district-branch-meeting-house’Alfred Waterhouse’s own painting of the Union following its extension in 1886

This House Isn’t What it Used to Be

Saturday 7th February8.00pm

BICENTENARY DEBATE

As the Union welcomes back former Presidents and Officers to celebrate its Bicentenary, we gather together to debate and

celebrate the highs and lows of our long and controversial history.

Proposition Opposition

The Rt. Hon. the Lord Howard of Lympne CH QC

Michael Howard is the former Leader of the Conservative

Party and former Leader of the Opposition. He read Economics and Law at Peterhouse and was

President in Easter 1962.

Lord Turner of Ecchinswell

Adair Turner is a former Director-General of the CBI and chairman of the Financial Services Authority. He read History an Economics at Gonville & Caius and was president in Michaelmas 1977.

The Rt. Hon. Kenneth Clarke QC MP

Kenneth Clarke has been a Member of Parliament

since 1970 and is a former Chancellor of the Exchequer

and Home Secretary. He read Law at Caius and was

President in Easter 1963.

Sir Peter Bazalgette

Sir Peter Bazalgette is the Chair of Arts Council England and arguably ‘the most influential man in British television’. He read Law at Fitzwilliam and was President in Michaelmas 1975.

Baroness Hayman GBE PC

Hélène Hayman was the first Speaker of the House of Lords and has been a Labour life peer since 1996. She read Law at Newnham and was President in Easter 1969.

Baroness Mallalieu QC

Ann Mallalieu is a Labour life peer, former Barrister and President of the Countryside

Alliance. She read law at Newnham and was the first ever

female President in 1967.

Gareth Weetman

Gareth Weetman is a barrister with over 15 years’ experience of trial advocacy. He read Law at Christ’s and was President in Michaelmas 1997.

Michael Dunn Goekjian

Michael Dunn Goekjian is a third-year student at Trinity,

reading mathmatics. He was named the 2nd best debater

in the world at the 2015 World University Debating

Championship and was President in Easter 2014.

38 Celebrating 200 Years 39the Cambridge Union soCietY

Opposite: The Union's delayed Centenary Debate1921


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Saturday 13th JuneSidney Sussex Gardens

THE Union Garden Party – like you’ve never seen it before. The 2015 Garden Party will take over the entirety of the Sidney Sussex Gardens, and

will bring together members resident and non-resident on a summer afternoon to celebrate our long history. This event is open to members of the Cambridge Union and all current students at the University of Cambridge.

The Union’s Annual Garden Party is consistently the most sophisticated, elegant andh highly-subscribed of May Week. In recognition of the Union’s Bicentenary, this year’s Garden Party will be bigger than ever. We hope you will join us to toast the Union over a glass of bubby and enjoy the entertainments and food on offer in Sidney Sussex’s beautiful College Gardens. For details on how to book an alumnae ticket for this year’s Garden Party, please visit: 2015.cus.org or cus.org/200th-Anniversary-2015

The 2015 Garden Party


© Davidyoung11111 | Dreamstime.com

2015 Events:The London Debate

Middle Temple Hall Saturday 26th September, 8.00pm

‘This House Believes that the European Project has been a failure’.

JOIN us for the final instalment of our 2015 Celebrations in the esteemed surroundings of

Middle Temple Hall.

With the effects of sovereign debt crises and political instability in Europe fuelling an increase in Euroscepticism, we will be debating the motion ‘This House Believes that the European Project has been a failure’. International and domestic experts, policymakers and journalists will discuss the contentious arguments surrounding the future of the European Union and Britain’s place within the single market.

In light of the fact that next year will mark the sixty-fifth anniversary of the historic Schuman Declaration, this will be a rare occasion to experience the atmosphere of the Cambridge Union’s debating chamber in the heart of London. This debate will bring together members past and present for a historic discussion.

For further information about speakers and on how to book tickets for this exciting event, please visit http://2015.cus.org/

Middle Temple Hall


IT will not have escaped perceptive observers that the President in the chair this evening is a woman. This would not have been possible in the first 148

years of the Union’s existence, for it remained an all-male society until 1963. A total of twenty-nine women have taken the chair since Ann Mallalieu became the first to do so in Michaelmas 1967. The 2005–6 academic year was the first with three successive female Presidents. Those who deprecate the slow pace of change, however, should note that the Union opened its doors to both sexes before any Cambridge colleges did (the first was University College, now Wolfson, in 1965). The Union’s relationship with women was complicated from the start. Newnham College was founded by an ex-President of the Society, Henry Sidgwick (Lent 1861), and Girton by Emily Davies, the sister of another. But an early proposal to open membership of the Union to Girton and Newnham in 1912 was rejected by a two-to-one majority (127–63). This was consistent with the Union’s general approach to women’s lib: the Society showed itself even more conservative in outlook than the House of Commons by rejecting female suffrage on 28 of the 31 occasions on which it debated it between 1866 and 1914 – the exceptions being slender majorities of four, three, and one. It took a more lenient view of women’s degrees

in the early years of the twentieth century – and by Michaelmas 1929, wanted to see women given full rights within the University. But the University was not listening – it did not allow women to take their degrees until 1947. Women were allowed into the Union from at least as early as the opening of the new building in 1866. As guests, they could watch debates from the gallery – though this caused some sensitivities, for instance during a debate on birth control in Lent 1924. Lord Dawson, the King’s physician, was supporting the motion and requested that women be excluded. (The diplomatic President closed the gallery to non-members of either sex.) In Michaelmas 1935, a full debate – ‘That this House would welcome the admission of women to full membership of the Cambridge Union Society’ – was held. One speaker worried that Union elections would become beauty contests if women were involved. ‘Imagine a woman sitting there on your chair,’ he cautioned the President: ‘like a bad photograph, under-developed and overexposed’. The motion was lost, 274–193.

‘Madam President’: The Battle to Admit WomenStephen Parkinson

In Lent 1946, the constitution was amended to allow ‘ladies of distinction’ to be invited once a term. The first debate to include female speakers was held on 11 June 1946, when Lady Violet Bonham Carter, President of the Liberal Party, went head-to-head with Viscountess Davidson, the Conservative MP for Hemel Hempstead – who, the press noted with some interest, chose not to wear a hat. In Lent 1958, Christopher Norman-Butler interpreted the term ‘ladies of distinction’ rather more loosely and invited Jennifer Platt of Newnham, President of the University Liberal Club, to speak in a debate. The Sunday Times published a half-page picture of Miss Platt at the Union dispatch box, the first female undergraduate to do so. A ‘Women’s Union Society’ briefly flourished in 1955–8. It began as ‘a ghastly after-dinner joke’, but was praised as a ‘brave venture’ by The Times, and the BBC recorded its inaugural debate. By the end of the academic year, it claimed to have enrolled as members a quarter of the women at Cambridge – but the cost of premises proved too expensive, and it gradually withered.

The battle to admit women truly ignited in the 1960s. Three women burst in to the No Confidence debate in Michaelmas 1961, where they were given seats by supporters. One dramatically fainted and was carried out while the debate was adjourned. But a greater advance was made the following year, when Michael Howard succeeded in lowering the threshold needed to amend the Union’s constitution from a three-quarters majority to two-thirds. Successive polls failed to clear even this hurdle until Michaelmas 1963, when Oliver Weaver, ‘an ardent supporter’ of women’s admission, and his supportive Standing Committee tabled the now familiar motion. It was carried 166–43, and the ensuing poll of all members, held on 4 November 1963, by 449 to 180. Supporters of women’s admission had won 71 per cent of the vote: the long battle was over. The first woman to sign the members’ book was Janet Hogg of New Hall, and a woman was elected to Standing Committee within a year. This was Sheena Matheson of Girton, who was also first to stand for the presidency in Michaelmas 1965. But she was defeated by the Secretary, Jeremy Burford, who ‘knew that the Union wasn’t ready for a woman President, and in particular wasn’t ready for a Labour woman President.’

President Imogen Schön chairing a debate on Toxic Tabloids, Susie Boniface ('Fleet Street Fox') SpeakingLent 2014Photo: Chris Williamson


Two years later, however, the Union was ready for both, when the daughter of a Minister in the Wilson Government – Ann Mallalieu of Newnham – comfortably beat her male opponent by 190 votes to 104 to become the Union’s first female President. Her election made the news not only on the front pages of the national press, but around the world. It aroused particular interest at Oxford: although they had admitted women slightly earlier, there had still not been a female President of the Union there. They thought it ‘mal à l’autre lieu’. The Union’s second woman President – Hélène Middleweek (Easter 1969; now Baroness Hayman) was also a Labour member: indeed, the two went

head-to-head for the party’s nomination in Welwyn & Hatfield in 1974. It was Middleweek who won, becoming the first sitting MP to have a baby – and the first Speaker of the House of Lords in 2006. So, while it may have taken the best part of a century after the foundation of Girton and Newnham for the Union to admit women, the Society was rather faster than the rest of Cambridge. Even other student societies such as the Footlights took longer to admit women. Eric Idle, their President in October 1964, complained to the club’s senior treasurer that ‘it is rather sad that the Footlights lag behind even the Union’.

SINCE 1967, when Ann Mallalieu became the first woman to win that coveted red leather chair, the Union has been proud to include some of

Cambridge’s most respected and admired alumnae among its former female presidents, including Hélène Hayman, Arianna Huffington and Clare Balding. These women have been inspirations to us, the female executives who don’t yet have our own Wikipedia pages, not least because we can appreciate what kind of rubbish they must have had to put up with from the testosterone filled chambers of this society. In addition to the prominence of its female officers, the Union plays an important role in contributing to and shaping the national debate around women's issues. In recent years, the society has hosted speakers including Dame Judi Dench, Baroness Hale and Lisa Kudrow and debated motions such as This House Believes Feminism Has Failed the Western World, This House Believes That Feminism Should Exclude Men, This House Believes Gender Exists to Oppress and This House Believes The Veil Empowers Women (that last one only won 24 votes for the proposition) – not to mention a host of debates that are indirectly about the place of women in modern society, on the topics of religion, politics and human rights. Despite its steps towards inclusivity, however, the Union still has a long way to go before it can be truly proud of its female participation. It has had only twenty-nine female presidents, but we have every confidence that the Union will continue to mature both in age and modernity – and we will be proud to say that we were a part of this great institution.

Sophie Hollows & Lauren DavidsonVice President, 2011-12 & President Lent 2011

ContemporaryPerspective: Women in the Union

Forced Marriage ForumMichalmas 2014

Arianna StassinopoulosPresident, Michaelmas 1971



THE door was ajar. Was that an invitation to walk in or simply carelessness? Unsure, I knocked. A loud but distant voice responded. ‘Come in’.

I entered a square room lined with bookshelves rising to the ceiling. The curtains were drawn and the lights were not bright. The rich smell of cigar smoke hung in the air. It was a comfortable, well-used room but it was empty. ‘I’m in the bath’. It was the same voice. ‘Sit down and amuse yourself. I’ll join you shortly’. That was how Michael Posner, the man who would become my tutor, introduced himself. I would learn more of his eccentric ways in the years to come but at this first encounter I was flummoxed. I had come to Pembroke for an interview. Although anxious, eager and excited, I was ready for almost anything – but not this. At 18 I wasn’t sure what to do. I wanted to behave like an adult but the question I could not answer was what would that amount to? I reached for a book and stood by an upright old brass lamp glancing at its pages. I can’t remember its name but it had something to do with the Indian economy. ‘Ah, there you are’. I turned to find Michael Posner bearing down on me. He was a large man but his smile was equally generous. He thumped my shoulder and more or less simultaneously pushed me into a large armchair. Then he sat down in another in front of me. ‘What’s that?’ Posner reached for the book I had just put down. He seemed to know it. ‘Well, young man, you want to come up to Pembroke, do you?’ ‘Yes, Mr. Posner’. What else could I have said? The answer should have been obvious.

Recollections: Karan ThaparPresident, Lent 1977

‘In that case, what can you tell me about the Indian economy?’ It was a trick. And I had created the opportunity by choosing that particular book. I wished I had instead picked up a magazine or a newspaper. Now I had to talk about a subject of which I was completely ignorant. Inwardly I panicked but outwardly I started to gabble. It was the only way of covering up. I must have spoken for three minutes or more. ‘Hmmm’. The sound was enough to stop my flow. But Posner was staring at the documents in his hand. I guess they must have been part of my application form. ‘Not knowing the subject doesn’t seem to be a handicap for you!’ Ouch! But there was a hint of a smile and his eyes were gleaming. That was the first time I saw Posner embarrass and applaud with the same sentence. It was his trademark style. Eight months later, my A-levels completed, I arrived at Pembroke. It was a dark sultry October evening and the heavy clouds threatened rain. Having installed myself in my room and unpacked, I headed for the common room. It turned out to be in the same building as Michael Posner’s rooms. As I opened the door to enter I noticed a large figure at the top of the stairs heading down. ‘Is that the expert on the Indian economy or have I got it wrong?’

I blushed. I had hoped Posner would have forgotten the gibberish I spouted at the interview. But not just his size, his memory was also elephantine. ‘Whatever else you do you should join the Union’. And with that he walked through the door I had just entered leaving in his wake the warm feeling of a pleasant greeting but also a small niggling doubt that I had been put in my place. What was the Union? The very next morning I made a determined effort to find out. An hour later I was a member. And for the next three years my university career centred around its large red brick building hidden behind the old Round Church. Posner had done me a second favour. I can only assume he sensed my ability to talk outstripped my talent for analysis and nudged me in this direction. I was elected to the Standing Committee at the end of my first term and became President of the Union in the penultimate one. I wore kurta pyjamas, achkans, bundgalas and Daddy’s old Edwardian double-breasted dinner jacket. Its broad watered-silk lapels were much admired. It was fun but it wasn’t always frivolous. It made me realise that politics could also be a grind. Yet I can honestly add I don’t think I’ve enjoyed anything more. Three months later I graduated with a 2:1, which is good but by no means distinguished. Michael Posner must have guessed this would happen when he heard me spouting on the Indian economy. I bet that’s why he pushed me towards the Union. Today I’d say he gave me the right advice.

Waterhouse’s Original ElevationEarly 1860s

Karan Thapar's TermcardLent 1977


THERE have been 589 Presidents of the Cambridge Union since 1815 (counting four duplicates, which was permitted until the late

nineteenth century). More than a third of them (207) have come from Trinity – far ahead of the next most prolific, St. John’s, on 64 – while the six graduate colleges have produced none at all. Why have these two centuries of students – and the many others who hoped to beat them – fought so hard to spend a term in the President’s chair? From its very earliest days, it has been clear that the Union has been more than an ordinary student society, with a reach far beyond Cambridge. John Stuart Mill followed its debates from London in the 1820s, describing the Union as ‘an arena where what were then thought extreme opinions, in politics and philosophy, were weekly asserted, face to face with their opposites, before audiences consisting of the élite of the Cambridge youth.’ His description remains true today: the style of the Union’s weekly debates has changed remarkably little. Guest speakers were first invited from 1887 (in large part, to increase the representation of Nationalist opinion for debates on Ireland which dominated proceedings at this time) and brought with them even greater attention for Union debates from the outside world. When conscription was debated in April 1939, pictures from the chamber were sent to London and appeared in the following day’s papers. The result – a vote against conscription of 204 to 144 – so angered Winston Churchill that he came to Cambridge to address a meeting in the Corn Exchange the following month ‘specifically to counter the Union vote’. With such provocative debates, the Union has acquired – and perhaps nurtured – a reputation for being a stepping-stone towards a political career. The so-called ‘Cambridge Mafia’ of Leon Brittan, John Gummer, Michael Howard, Ken Clarke, and Norman Lamont – all Presidents in 1960–64 who have clocked up more than 90 years in government between them – is merely the most striking example. Twenty-five Presidents since the Second World War have become MPs; nineteen (with some overlap) have entered the House of Lords.

An Arena of AmbitionStephen Parkinson

Edward Gambier, First President of the UnionLent 1815

For all their successes, however – and despite the record of its younger sister at Oxford – the Union has never produced a prime minister. In fact, none of the Cantabrigian prime minsters since the Society’s foundation even spoke there as undergraduates. The nearest the Society can boast is a Prime Minister of Malta, Gerald Strickland (Michaelmas 1887), and two Leaders of the Opposition: Frederick Pethick-Lawrence (Michaelmas 1896) and Michael Howard (Easter 1962). But it has produced scores of distinguished Parliamentarians – not just ministers but eminent backbenchers, such as C.P. Villiers (Easter 1822) who spent a record 63 years as an MP, and two Speakers of the House of Commons – W.C. Gully (Easter 1855) and Selwyn Lloyd (Michaelmas 1927) – in addition to Baroness Hayman in the House of Lords. Another member who became Speaker – James Lowther – chaired its centenary debate, giving members pithy oratorical advice: ‘Stand up, speak up, shut up’. But Union alumni have done much more beyond politics. Edward Gambier, the first President, started a long line of successful lawyers by becoming Chief Justice of Madras; his successors have included a Chief Justice of Kenya, a Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, and a Lord Chief Justice of England. Arnold McNair (Easter 1909) was President of both the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights; Norman Birkett (Michaelmas 1910) was one of the British judges at Nuremberg. Three ex-Presidents have served as Lord Chancellor: Frederic Maugham (Lent 1889), Elwyn Jones (Michaelmas 1931), and Ken Clarke (Easter 1963). The first President of the twentieth century was the economist A.C. Pigou – followed not long after by his fellow Kingsman John Maynard Keynes (Lent 1905). Union officers include an Olympic medallist, an Oscar nominee, and two winners of the Nobel Peace Prize (Austen Chamberlain and Philip Noel-Baker). Michael Ramsay, President in Lent 1926, became Archbishop of Canterbury; Robert Stevenson (Easter 1928), was the director of Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

The Union’s membership ledgers and debating records bear the names of many who never held office but went on to great and varied acclaim: Rupert Brooke, Stanley Baldwin, Anthony Blunt, Salman Rushdie. King George VI is not the only member of the Royal Family to have joined the Society: Prince Charles made one of his first speeches in the public spotlight there as an undergraduate at Trinity in May 1970; his uncle, Lord Mountbatten, served on Standing Committee and presented the Union with a samurai sword surrendered on VJ Day when it elected him an honorary member in 1946. Whether the Cambridge Union creates the leaders of future generations or is merely a magnet for them in their ambitious early years is a subject for debate itself. But one thing is certain: those whose names have been heard in its chamber are among those most likely to be heard again long after they have left Cambridge.



The Union Frontage at NightMichaelmas 2014


I JOINED the Union pretty much the moment I arrived at Cambridge – I had received a leaflet in the post

before coming up, and was desperate to get my membership as fast as I possibly could. I knew it was a debating society, so I knew I would enjoy it: my family have always engaged in fairly fierce debates (sometimes more accurately ‘arguments’) from the big issues of politics or philosophy down to the pedantry of the correct definition of SPF for sun cream (my father and I thrashed this out the entire length of the French Alps once in our family Volvo in about 2004. The conclusion is still hotly debated, but honestly, I won). Funnily enough, my sister has recently been elected onto Standing Committee, so I like to think there’s intellectual curiosity and robustness in the DNA (and/or we’re just infuriatingly contrarian). Beyond the debating though it was plain from reading about the Union that it was part of the intangible and captivating magic of Cambridge that I was so excited to experience. Having come from a Surrey ‘bog standard comprehensive’, I was spellbound by the university, the city, Trinity (my college), my faculty (Classics) and the Union. I felt at once totally at home and exhilarated by the challenge of everything around me. But what kept me coming back, inspired me to go for appointed positions, run for election and finally stand for President (my term was Lent 2012) was the people. I made and still have a fantastic group of friends from being involved in the Union, a different group from my Trinity friends, Classics friends, or theatre friends (I was also involved in the ADC). Even now, a year and a half after graduating, I still meet up regularly with a substantial proportion of the people I worked with.

Being involved in the Union was a privilege and a pleasure: memories that stand out from that period include taking Stephen Sondheim on a tour of Cambridge, being moved almost to tears by an exceptionally high quality debate on euthanasia, first getting my hands on the printed termcard, attempting to manage the protestors and high-running tension at a controversial speaker event (Dominique Strauss-Kahn), and being described as a ‘bright blonde bluestocking’ in The Telegraph (though I sadly can’t claim to have anything like the importance and impact of those pioneering 18th and 19th century feminists). Perhaps some of my clearest memories though are the unremarkable ones: working away in the President’s office, laughing at College Reps committee, running around looking for strawberries for the garden party, desperately trying to remember how to pronounce all the speakers’ names. In the future, I hope the Union continues to offer the same unique atmosphere, experiences and opportunities for students in Cambridge. I truly believe there is nowhere like it in the world (and certainly not at Oxford) and am frequently struck by the unmatched opportunities I was able to enjoy and the incredible things I learned. I hope the Union continues to expand its reach, both within Cambridge and, through technology, across the world. Finally, safe spaces are vital and commendable, but the Union is not and should not be one, not for anyone. Instead it is a challenging and difficult space, one where no topic cannot be discussed and everyone should be heard. At times this isn’t easy, but I would encourage every officer and member to uphold this fundamental principle of the Union’s existence, now and for as long as it lives.

Recollections: Katie LamPresident, Lent 2012

Cambridge Union Society Term Planner Lent 2012Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

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22

Riots Forum

Monday 20th February, 7.00pm

The Riots – Can we prevent it happening again? The Riots

transfi xed the world’s media, yet have prompted litt le debate

in Cambridge. We and The Wilberforce Society present you

with the unique opportunity to challenge the views of a panel

of frontline experts including MPs such as David Lammy,

community leaders and the police, as well as hear TWS’s

policy soluti ons to the riots, commissioned by Lord Glasman.

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa

Wednesday 22nd February, 7.30pm

Dame Kiri te Kanawa is one of the most famous sopranos of her

generati on with a phenomenally successful operati c career

spanning the heroines of Mozart, Strauss, Verdi, Handel and

Puccini. She sang at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady

Diana, and was chosen by Leonard Bernstein to sing Maria in

the recording of West Side Story.

Prof. Robert Winston

Wednesday 22nd February, 4.00pm

Professor Lord Robert Winston is an academic, doctor and

politi cian. He is a life peer, a fellow of the Royal Society and a

Professor of Science and Society at Imperial College London.

A disti nguished broadcaster, he is famous for presenti ng the

BBC series Child of Our Time.

WEDNESDAY

TUESDAYMONDAY

THURSDAYRIOTS FORUM7.00pm

DAME KIRI TE KANAWA

7.30pmPROF. ROBERT WINSTON

4.00pmPUB QUIZ

8.00pm

COCKTAILWORKSHOP

7.30pmDEBATING WORKSHOP

7.00pm

WEEK

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EEK 5/6

23

This House Would Legalise Euthanasia

Thurdsay 23rd February

7.30pm

PROPOSITION

OPPOSITION

Tom Curran

Tom Curran is

Coordinator of Exit

Internati onal Europe.

Jeremy Purvis

Jeremy Purivs tried to

pass a bill to legalise

assisted dying in Scotland.

Nick Ross

Nick Ross is a BBC radio

and television presenter.

Lee Rayfi eld is the current

Bishop of Swindon.Bishop Lee Rayfield

Baron Carlile is a Queens’

Councillor and a former

Liberal Democrat MP.

Baron Carlile

Baroness Finlay is a Crossbench

Peer and a Professor of

palliati ve medicine.

Baroness Finlay

Masquerade Spring Ball

Saturday 25th February, 9.00pm

No one throws a ball quite like the Union, so make sure you

get a ti cket for an evening of delicious food, champagne,

cocktails, and the fi nest musical and comedic Cambridge

talent in a stunning Veneti an setti ng. Don your fanciest mask

and join in the masquerade before the traditi onal midnight

unmasking... ‘Like’ the Cambridge Union page on Facebook

for more details!

FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAYDEBATE7.30pm

SPRING BALL

9.00pm

THURSDAY

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ZoË WanamakerTuesday 6th March, 7.30pmZoë Wanamaker CBE is an actress who has worked extensively

in the theatre, winning two Olivier Awards for Best Actress,

appeared in fi lms including the Harry Pott er series, and in

television shows such as Dr Who, Agatha Christi e’s Poirot,

and a long-ti me role as Susan in the sitcom My Family.

War on Terror ForumMonday 5th March, 7.30pmThe War on Terror has been one of the most important

socio-politi cal phenomena of the 21st century. We will be

discussing whether the War on Terror was real or rhetorical,

its impact on global security, internati onal relati ons and

individual communiti es, and whether it can be deemed to

have been successful thus far. Speakers will include Munir

Akram, former Pakistani Ambassador to the UN.

Jerry SpringerThursday 8th March, 7.30pmJerry Springer is a Briti sh-born American talk-show host best

known as the front man for the tabloid talk show The Jerry

Springer Show, which for the past twenty years has been one

of the most famous and controversial shows on television. He

was previously involved in politi cs and is a former Democrati c

Mayor of Cincinnati .

WEDNESDAYTUESDAY

MONDAY

THURSDAY

WAR ON TERROR FORUM7.30pmPUB

QUIZ8.00pmCOCKTAILWORKSHOP7.30pm

ZOEWANAMAKER7.30pm

DEBATING WORKSHOP7.00pm

WEEK

7/8W

EEK 7/8

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Stephen SondheimSaturday 10th March, 3.00pmStephen Sondheim is one of the world’s most celebrated

composers and lyricists. His big break came writi ng the

lyrics for West Side Story; he has since composed Sweeney

Todd, Company and A Litt le Night Music among many other

musicals. He has won an Oscar, a Pulitzer Prize, an Olivier

Award, eight Grammies and eight Tony Awards, more than

any other composer.

Dominique Strauss-KahnFriday 9th March, 7.30pmDominique Strauss-Kahn is a French economist, lawyer

and politi cian. He served as the Managing Director of

the Internati onal Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2007 unti l

his resignati on in 2011. He was previously a professor of

economics at the Sciences PO and the French Minister of

Economy and Finance.

End of Term PartyBefore Easter Term and all its horrors set in, give Lent Term

the send off it deserves and come and celebrate its passing

in style! With cheap drinks, live music and a DJ in tow, grab

some friends and head down to the Union to congratulate

yourselves on surviving another Cambridge term.

Friday 9th March, 9.00pm

FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

END OF TERM PARTY9.00pmYOGA10.30am ZUMBA7.15pm

STEPHEN SONDHEIM3.00pm

JERRY SPRINGER7.30pmDOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN7.30pm

THURSDAY

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Katie Lam's TermcardLent 2012


Help to maintain our history Do you have old Union memorabilia which you would like a safe home for? Papers which are gathering dust in the loft? Whether they are old termcards, posters, minutes, or photographs, if you are happy to part with them, we would be delighted to add them to the Union's archives, which are kept for posterity in the University Library.

We have an extensive archive which stretches right back to 1815 – but our records get patchier as we get closer to the present day. So whatever Union generation you are from, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact Col. Bill Bailey in Cambridge ([email protected]) or Stephen Parkinson in London ([email protected]) with any questions, or to arrange a safe and convenient transfer of your material.

Help to secure the Union for future generations 2015 is about celebrating the Union's past and looking to its future. We are delighted that so many members have chosen to re-connect with the Union this year. We have been overwhelmed by the interest in the Bicentenary Dinner and Debate, the Garden Party and the London Debate. These are not fundraising events – we're just glad to have you back at the Union.

However if you would like to help the Society to flourish for the next two-hundred years- as a thriving centre of discussion, a place that trains world-class debaters or as somewhere that encourages talented students from all walks of life to apply to Cambridge – you might like to consider remembering the Union in your will or giving a donation to the Union.

You don't need to tell us that you are doing it – but if you would like to discuss anything before doing so, please contact Col. Bill Bailey (ret'd) (by emailing [email protected] or telephoning 01223 566436). Otherwise, you will just need the following details.

Charity name: The Cambridge Union Society (Charity Number: 1136030)Registered address: 9a Bridge Street, Cambridge CB2 1UB.

Cherish the Union’s Past; Secure its FutureKeeping in Touch Membership of the Union is for life. This means that those who left Cambridge years ago can return and enjoy all of the benefits that the society has to offer. In order for us to keep in touch with you and send you information about debates and speaker events, we will need your current contact details, including postal address and preferred email address. You can check and update your details by contacting us by emailing either [email protected] or [email protected] or by telephoning 01223 566421. The Benefits of Membership Members can return to Cambridge to enjoy the weekly speaker events and watch the Thursday night debates. In addition they can attend the annual Garden Party which is held in June. If members wish to reserve spaces at these events they can, subject to availability, contact the Main Office by emailing [email protected] or [email protected].

If you sign up to our Members’ Mailing List by providing us with a current email address you will receive:

• An electronic copy of the Termcard at the beginning of every term

• A quarterly update on the Union’s activities

Live Stream The Union is also extremely proud to have introduced, as part of our bicentenary celebrations, a new online streaming service. This means that members from across the globe can watch events in real time. They can also ask questions of the speakers by using our integrated social media platform. In order to sign-up for this service, please contact [email protected] or [email protected] or telephone 01223 566421. Data ProtectionThe Union will treat your data confidentially. We will not pass your email address or postal address on to any third parties. You will be able to unsubscribe from any of the above services by contacting the Union directly.

Connecting to Cambridge; Staying in Touch


IN 2010 the Cambridge Union Society that many of you will have known closed down. The old charity was formally dissolved. In its place a

new organisation was formed. The new Union is a charity and a limited company with a modernised governance structure. This enables us to separate out our charitable activities, which include promoting debating and hosting educational events, from our commercial ones. Cambridge Union Society Enterprises Limited (CUSEL) which handles all of our corporate business, including weddings, conferences and room bookings, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the main charity. The results of this transformation have been dramatic, not least on the student body. The President is now a Trustee Director of the charity and the Vice President serves as a Director of CUSEL. The aim of this restructuring was to enable the society to modernise its core message and bring the art of debating and public speaking into the twenty-first century. The Union’s strategy over the medium term will be driven by two watchwords: impact and inclusion. We hope to be able to increase our impact and reach as a forum for the free exchange of ideas, while at the same time improving access to debating and public speaking for those who have never traditionally had such experiences. Our ability to do this has been greatly enhanced by our recent partnership with Deloitte. Impact In such a globalised world, the free, frank and fair exchange of ideas is accorded increasingly less time, however there has never been a period when these principles have been more central to society. The Union wants to be able to ensure that its members as well as the wider public continue to hear what the most influential people in the world have to say. New technological interfaces will be essential to re-vitalising the Union’s mission. Increased internet capacity and our new audio-visual equipment have allowed the Union to link up with speakers who are overseas. We have already reaped the benefits of these improvements and earlier this term witnessed a lively discussion with Judge Richard Posner from Chicago. However our mission is to do more than this. We envisage a Union building with state-of-the-art facilities so that debates and speaker events can be broadcast live to each room in the building and potentially to the wider world.

New platforms The Union’s website is its gateway to the outside world. It is the first way that many people interact with us. With this in mind, we have redesigned our website so that it is easy to navigate and that information is readily obtainable. We have also developed a new video streaming service. CUS Live will revolutionise the way in which our members watch debates and speaker events. Inclusion The Union is committed to spreading the art of public speaking and debating. To this end, we run the largest secondary school debating competition in the United Kingdom, the Cambridge Union Schools Competition, which reaches over 1,500 schoolchildren a year. However, we believe that there is the potential to do so much more. In tough economic times innovation is often pushed down or off the agenda. In schools many nascent public speaking and debating programmes are shelved either due to lack of funds, to enter competitions, or lack of time. This cannot continue as access to ideas and the ability to speak and defend one’s opinion are central to the modern world. We therefore intend to foster a culture of debating and public speaking within schools by forming long-term partnerships across the country. These plans are part of our vision for the medium term. They represent a modernisation of our core business. The future of the Union is based upon impact and inclusion. It is rooted in increasing our accessibility, impact and presence on a national and global level. However, it is also about showing the value and relevancy of our core business. Debating and public speaking are crucial to modern life. They are skills that need to be taught and appreciated. Understanding how concepts work; challenging ideas and having a free exchange is the bedrock upon which our society is founded. It is the responsibility of the Union to ensure that these ideals are protected and nurtured for years to come. Without wishing to prejudice the result of tonight’s debate, the Union definitely has the potential to be much more than it used to be.

Cambridge Union Society: A Vision of the Future Alex Forzani



1815 Lent Mr E. Gambier Trinity1815 Easter Viscount Normanby Trinity1815 Michaelmas The Hon. C.J. Shore Trinity1816 Lent Mr G. Stainforth Trinity1816 Easter Mr E. Leycester St John’s1816 Michaelmas Mr R Whitcombe Trinity1817 Lent Mr W. Whewell Trinity1817 Easter Mr C. Thirlwall Trinity1817 Michaelmas Mr H.J. Rose Trinity1818 Lent Mr B.H. Malkin Trinity1818 Easter Mr T. Thorp Trinity1818 Michaelmas Mr T. Baines Trinity1819 Lent Mr T. Platt Trinity1819 Easter Mr S. Hawkes Trinity1819 Michaelmas Mr J. Cooper Trinity1820 Lent Mr E.D. Rhodes Sidney Sussex1820 Easter Mr E. Whiteley Jesus1820 Michaelmas Mr T. Sheepshanks Trinity1821 Lent Mr E. Strutt Trinity1821 Easter Mr J. Punnett Clare1821 Michaelmas Mr J. Furnival Queens’1822 Lent Mr C. Austin Jesus1822 Easter Mr C. Villiers St John’s1822 Michaelmas Mr W.H. Ord Trinity1823 Lent Mr W. Blunt King’s1823 Easter Mr G.O. Townsend King’s1823 Michaelmas Mr J.J. Rawlinson Trinity1824 Lent Mr R.C. Hildyard St Catharine’s1824 Easter Mr A.J. Cockburn Trinity Hall1824 Michaelmas Mr J. Haughton Pembroke1825 Lent Mr W.E. Tooke Trinity1825 Easter Mr B.H. Kennedy St John’s1825 Michaelmas Mr J. Stock Peterhouse1826 Lent Mr J. Wilson Trinity1826 Easter Mr J.H. Smith Corpus Christi1826 Michaelmas Mr C. Lillingston Emmanuel1827 Lent Mr C. Buller Trinity1827 Easter Mr J. Sterling Trinity Hall1827 Michaelmas Mr S.H. Walpole Trinity1828 Lent Mr J. Kemble Trinity1828 Easter Mr R.C. Trench Trinity1828 Michaelmas Mr H.H. Luscombe Clare1829 Lent Mr J.W. Blakesley Corpus Christi1829 Easter Mr C. Chapman Corpus Christi1829 Michaelmas Mr P.H. Crutchley Magdalene1830 Lent Mr L.S. Orde Queens’1830 Easter Mr H. Matthew Sidney Sussex1830 Michaelmas Mr L.S. Orde Queens’1831 Lent Mr W.S. O’Brien Trinity1831 Easter Mr J.W.D. Dundas Magdalene1831 Michaelmas Mr W.H. Brookfield Trinity1832 Lent Mr C.R. Kennedy Trinity1832 Easter Mr H. Alford Trinity1832 Michaelmas Mr R.A. Johnstone Trinity1833 Lent Hon. C.W. Henniker St John’s1833 Easter Mr E. Warburton Trinity1833 Michaelmas Mr J.E. Heathcote Trinity1834 Lent Mr W.H. Brookfield Trinity

Hon. W.C. Henniker St John’s1834 Easter Mr C. White Magdalene1834 Michaelmas Mr C.G. Burke Christ’s1835 Lent Mr G.F. Townsend Trinity1835 Easter Mr K. Macaulay Jesus1835 Michaelmas Mr W.A. Mackinnon St John’s1836 Lent Mr W.F. Pollock Trinity1836 Easter Mr T. Spankie Trinity1836 Michaelmas Mr H.R. Goldfinch Trinity1837 Lent Mr A. Baillie-Cochrane Trinity1837 Easter Mr A.J. Ellis Trinity1837 Michaelmas Mr R.N. Phillipps Christ’s1838 Lent Mr J.C. Tindal Trinity1838 Easter Sir J. Lighton, Bt. St John’s1838 Michaelmas Mr S.T. Bartlett Clare1839 Lent Mr A.J.B. Hope Trinity

Mr J.W. Donaldson Trinity1839 Easter Mr C.J. Ellicott St John’s

1839 Michaelmas Mr E.H.J. Crauford Trinity1840 Lent Mr J.H. Bastard Trinity1840 Easter Mr W. Werge St John’s1840 Michaelmas Mr J.A. Beaumont Trinity1841 Lent Mr J.R. Stock St John’s1841 Easter Mr W. Cunliffe-Brooks St John’s1841 Michaelmas Mr T.H. Bullock King’s1842 Lent Mr E. Rudge St Catharine’s

Mr G. Crawshay Trinity1842 Easter Mr J. Hardcastle Peterhouse1842 Michaelmas Mr T.S. Western Trinity1843 Lent Mr F.W. Gibbs Trinity1843 Easter The Hon. F.S. Grimston Magdalene1843 Michaelmas Mr G.W. King Trinity1844 Lent Mr J.C.H. Ogier Trinity1844 Easter Mr W. Blake Trinity1844 Michaelmas Mr E.F. Fiske Emmanuel1845 Lent Mr C. Babington St John’s1845 Easter Mr H. Lindsay Trinity1845 Michaelmas Mr R.A. Cross Trinity1846 Lent Mr J.F. Baird Trinity1846 Easter Mr T. Dealtry Trinity1846 Michaelmas Mr A. Garfit Trinity1847 Lent The Hon. W.F. Campbell Trinity1847 Easter Mr J. Ll. Davies Trinity1847 Michaelmas Mr A.A. Vansittart Trinity1848 Lent Mr R.H. Parr Trinity1848 Easter Mr J.F. Thrupp Trinity1848 Michaelmas Mr F.H. Colt Trinity1849 Lent Hon. A. Gordon Trinity1849 Easter Mr W.V. Harcourt Trinity1849 Michaelmas Mr J. Ll. Davies Trinity1850 Lent Mr A.H. Louis Trinity1850 Easter Mr R. Temple Trinity1850 Michaelmas Mr R. Stuart Lane Gonville and Caius1851 Lent Mr H. Leach Emmanuel1851 Easter Mr P. Laurence Trinity1851 Michaelmas Mr H. A. Bright Trinity1852 Lent Mr R.J. Cust Trinity1852 Easter Mr J. Payn Trinity1852 Michaelmas Mr F. J. A. Hort Trinity1853 Lent Mr J. Lloyd Trinity1853 Easter Mr A. Cohen Magdalene1853 Michaelmas Mr E. Dicey Trinity1854 Lent Mr C.T. Swanston Trinity1854 Easter Mr H.W. Elphinstone Trinity1854 Michaelmas Mr V. Lushington Trinity1855 Lent Mr F. Kelly Trinity1855 Easter Mr W.C. Gully Trinity1855 Michaelmas Mr H.M. Butler Trinity1856 Lent Mr W.D. Gardiner Trinity1856 Easter Mr J.W. Dunning Trinity1856 Michaelmas Mr E.E. Bowen Trinity1857 Lent Mr C. Puller Trinity1857 Easter Mr J.E. Gorst St John’s1857 Michaelmas Mr W.S. Smith Trinity1858 Lent Mr C.A. Jones St John’s1858 Easter Mr R. O’Hara Gonville & Caius1858 Michaelmas Mr E.H. Fisher Trinity1859 Lent Mr H.C. Raikes Trinity1859 Easter Mr O. Browning King’s1859 Michaelmas Mr T.W. Beddome Trinity1860 Lent Mr C. Trotter Trinity1860 Easter Mr H. Geary Corpus Christi1860 Michaelmas Sir G. Young, Bt. Trinity1861 Lent Mr H. Sidgwick Trinity1861 Easter Mr F. Ll. Bagshawe Trinity1861 Michaelmas Mr G.O. Trevelyan Trinity1862 Lent Mr W.M. Lane Trinity1862 Easter Mr W.J. Lawrance Trinity1862 Michaelmas Mr W. Everett Trinity1863 Lent Mr E.L. O’Malley Trinity1863 Easter Mr E.L. O’Malley Trinity1863 Michaelmas Mr A. Sidgwick Trinity1864 Lent Mr R.D. Bennett Trinity Hall1864 Easter Mr H. Jackson Trinity

List of Presidents Past & Present1864 Michaelmas Mr C.W. Dilke Trinity Hall1865 Lent Mr H. Peto Trinity1865 Easter Mr J.R. Holland Trinity1865 Michaelmas Mr E.S. Shuckburgh Emmanuel1866 Lent Mr C.W. Dilke Trinity Hall1866 Easter Lord E. Fitzmaurice Trinity1866 Michaelmas Mr H.L. Anderton Gonville & Caius1867 Lent Mr W.R. Kennedy King’s1867 Easter Mr W.A. Lindsay Trinity1867 Michaelmas Mr G.C. Whiteley St John’s1868 Lent Mr A.S. Wilkins St John’s1868 Easter Mr J. F. Moulton St Johns1868 Michaelmas Mr E.A. Owen Trinity1869 Lent Mr R.T. Wright Christ’s1869 Easter Mr F. Watson St John’s1869 Michaelmas Mr J. Kennedy King’s1870 Lent Mr G. Warington Gonville & Caius1870 Easter Mr A. Foster St John’s1870 Michaelmas Mr J.E. Symes Downing1871 Lent Mr W.B. Odgers Trinity Hall1871 Easter Mr J. De Soyres Gonville & Caius1871 Michaelmas Mr C.G. Kellner King’s1872 Lent Mr W.F. MacMichael Downing1872 Easter Mr W. Cunningham Trinity1872 Michaelmas Mr T.O. Harding Trinity1873 Lent Mr F.W. Maitland Trinity1873 Easter Mr W.J. Scott Trinity1873 Michaelmas Mr A.W. Verral Trinity1874 Lent Mr C.S. Kenny Downing1874 Easter Mr P.M. Laurence Corpus Christi1874 Michaelmas Mr R.W. Jameson Trinity1875 Lent Mr J.E.C. Munro Downing1875 Easter Mr H.N. Martin Christ’s1875 Michaelmas Mr J.F. Skipper St John’s1876 Lent Mr J.E.C. Welldon King’s1876 Easter Mr J.F. Little Downing1876 Michaelmas Mr R.C. Lehmann Trinity1877 Lent The Hon. H.N. Waldegrave Trinity1877 Easter Mr J.F. Main Trinity1877 Michaelmas The Rev. A.G. Tweedie Gonville & Caius1878 Lent Mr T.D. Hart Downing1878 Easter Mr W.B. Milton Trinity1878 Michaelmas Mr T.R. Hughes Trinity1879 Lent Mr E.J.C. Morton St John’s1879 Easter Mr F.P. Lefroy Trinity1879 Michaelmas Mr S.G. Ponsonby Trinity1880 Lent Mr T.E. Scrutton Trinity1880 Easter Mr J.P. Whitney King’s1880 Michaelmas Mr J.K. Stephen King’s1881 Lent Mr N.C. Hardcastle Downing1881 Easter Mr H. Cox Jesus1881 Michaelmas Mr E.A. Parkyn Christ’s1882 Lent Mr O. Rigby St John’s1882 Easter Mr T. Beck Trinity1882 Michaelmas Sir J. Peiris St John’s1883 Lent Mr F.L. Lucas Trinity1883 Easter Mr J.R. Tanner St John’s1883 Michaelmas Mr G.S.W. Jebb Trinity1884 Lent Mr W. Blain St John’s1884 Easter Mr W.H. Stables Trinity1884 Michaelmas Mr W.A. Raleigh King’s1885 Lent The Hon. W.G. Scott Trinity1885 Easter Mr E.A. Goulding St John’s1885 Michaelmas Mr J.T. Bell Trinity Hall1886 Lent Mr E.J. Griffith Downing1886 Easter Mr L.J. Maxse King’s1886 Michaelmas Mr H. Boyd-Carpenter King’s1887 Lent Mr L.G.B.J. Ford King’s1887 Easter Mr F.E. Garrett Trinity1887 Michaelmas Count G. Strickland Trinity1888 Lent Mr W.W. Grantham Trinity1888 Easter Mr R.R. Ottley Trinity1888 Michaelmas Mr R.J. Wilkinson Trinity1889 Lent Mr F.H. Maugham Trinity Hall1889 Easter Mr C.H. Bompas Trinity1889 Michaelmas The Rev. E. Grose-Hodge Trinity Hall1890 Lent Mr W.E. Brunyate Trinity1890 Easter The Hon. M.M. Macnaghten Trinity1890 Michaelmas Mr J.E. McTaggart Trinity

1891 Easter Mr E.W. MacBride St John’s1891 Michaelmas Mr R.F. Graham Campbell Trinity1892 Lent Mr H.W.L. O’Rorke Trinity1892 Easter Mr A. Bertram Gonville & Caius1892 Michaelmas Mr G. Davidson Kempt St John’s1893 Lent Mr J.H.B. Masterman St John’s1893 Easter Mr P. Green St John’s1893 Michaelmas Mr A.A. Jack Peterhouse1894 Lent Mr C. Fisher Trinity1894 Easter Mr F.G. Thomas Sidney Sussex1894 Michaelmas Mr F.B. Malim Trinity1895 Lent Mr J.P. Thompson Trinity1895 Easter Mr M.S.D Butler Pembroke1895 Michaelmas Mr L. Stuyvesant Chanler Trinity

Mr D. Shearme Trinity1896 Lent Mr C.F.G. Masterman Christ’s1896 Easter Mr P.W. Wilson Clare1896 Michaelmas Mr F.W. Lawrence Trinity1897 Lent Mr F. Butler Pembroke1897 Easter Mr C.R. Buxton Trinity1897 Michaelmas Mr E.W. Barnes Trinity1898 Lent Mr W. Craig Henderson Trinity1898 Easter Mr W. Finlay Trinity1898 Michaelmas Mr B.N. Langdon-Davies Pembroke1899 Lent Mr T.F.R. McDonnell St John’s1899 Easter Mr J.R.P. Sclater Emmanuel1899 Michaelmas Mr C.E. Guiterman Trinity1900 Lent Mr A.C. Pigou King’s1900 Easter Mr G.F.S. Bowles Trinity1900 Michaelmas Mr E.H. Young Trinity1901 Lent Mr G. Claus Rankin Trinity1901 Easter Mr H.S. Van Zijl St John’s1901 Michaelmas Mr F.W. Armstrong St John’s1902 Lent Mr D.H. Macgregor Trinity1902 Easter Mr P.B. Haigh St John’s1902 Michaelmas Mr E.S. Montagu Trinity1903 Lent Mr J.G. Gordon Trinity1903 Easter Mr J. Strachan Clare1903 Michaelmas Mr J. Corry Arnold St John’s1904 Lent Mr F.E. Bray Trinity1904 Easter Mr M.F.J. McDonnell St John’s1904 Michaelmas Mr J.T. Sheppard King’s1905 Lent Mr H.G. Wood Jesus

Mr J.M. Keynes King’s1905 Easter Mr J.K. Mozley Pembroke1905 Michaelmas Mr H.W. Harris St John’s1906 Lent Mr S.J.M. Sampson Trinity1906 Easter Mr A.C.O. Morgan Trinity1906 Michaelmas Mr A.P. Hughes-Gibb Trinity

Mr H.A. Holland Trinity1907 Lent Mr E.G. Selwyn King’s1907 Easter Mr F.D. Livingstone Peterhouse1907 Michaelmas Mr O.F. Grazebrook Gonville & Caius1908 Lent Mr M.M. Pattison Muir Gonville & Caius1908 Easter Mr W.G. Elmslie Pembroke1908 Michaelmas Mr C. Bethell Trinity1909 Lent Mr E. Evans Trinity Hall1909 Easter Mr A.D. McNair Gonville & Caius1909 Michaelmas Mr A. Ramsay Gonville & Caius1910 Lent Mr J.R.M. Butler Trinity1910 Easter Mr G.G.G. Butler Trinity1910 Michaelmas Mr W.N. Birkett Emmanuel1911 Lent Mr H.P.W. Burton St John’s1911 Easter Mr J.H. Allen Jesus1911 Michaelmas Mr D.H. Robertson Trinity1912 Lent Mr K.F. Callaghan Gonville & Caius1912 Easter Mr P.J. Baker King’s1912 Michaelmas Mr H.D. Henderson Emmanuel1913 Lent Mr H. Wright Pembroke1913 Easter Mr H. Grose Hodge Pembroke1913 Michaelmas Mr E.P. Smith Gonville & Caius1914 Lent Mr D.G. Rouquette Sidney Sussex1914 Easter Mr G.K.M. Butler Trinity1914 Michaelmas Mr J.H.B. Nihill Emmanuel1915 Lent Mr H.D. Barnard Jesus1915 Easter Mr H.I. Lloyd Emmanuel1915 Michaelmas Mr O.H. Hoexter Emmanuel

Mr D.E. Oliver Trinity Hall1916 Lent Mr W.H. Ramsbottom Emmanuel1916 Easter Mr F.O.C. Potter Trinity Hall1891 Lent Mr S.R.C. Bosanquet Trinity


1919 Easter Mr W.L. McNair Gonville and Caius1919 Michaelmas Mr J.W. Morris Trinity Hall1920 Lent Mr G.H. Shakespeare Emmanuel1920 Easter Mr D.M. Reid Emmanuel1920 Michaelmas Mr L.A. Abraham Peterhouse1921 Lent Mr E.H.F. Morris Christ’s1921 Easter Mr G. G. Sharp Fitzwilliam House1921 Michaelmas Mr G.W. Theobald Emmanuel1922 Lent Mr W.D. Johnston Christ’s1922 Easter Mr R.E. Watson St Catharine’s1922 Michaelmas Mr I. Macpherson Trinity1923 Lent Mr G.G. Phillips Trinity1923 Easter Mr R. Northam Queens’1923 Michaelmas Mr R.H.L. Slater Jesus1924 Lent Mr S.V.T. Adams King’s1924 Easter Mr R.A. Butler Pembroke1924 Michaelmas Mr A. P. Marshall Gonville and Caius1925 Lent Mr G.W. Lloyd Trinity1925 Easter Mr J.W.G. Sparrow Trinity Hall1925 Michaelmas Mr D.R. Hardman Christ’s1926 Lent Mr A.M. Ramsey Magdalene1926 Easter Mr H.G.G. Herklots Trinity Hall1926 Michaelmas Mr P.A. Devlin Christ’s1927 Lent Mr A.L. Hutchinson Christ’s1927 Easter Mr M.A.B. King-Hamilton Trinity Hall1927 Michaelmas Mr J.S.B. Lloyd Magdalene1928 Lent Mr H.L. Elvin Trinity Hall1928 Easter Mr R.E. Stevenson St John’s1928 Michaelmas Mr G. Crowther Clare1929 Lent Mr J.G. Leathem St John’s1929 Easter Mr H.M. Foot St John’s1929 Michaelmas H.J. Sinclair, 2nd Baron Pentland Trinity1930 Lent Mr K. Adam St John’s1930 Easter Mr C.W. Jenks Gonville and Caius1930 Michaelmas Mr L.J. Gamlin Fitzwilliam House1931 Lent Mr J.D.F. Green Peterhouse1931 Easter Mr K.W. Britton Clare1931 Michaelmas Mr F. Elwyn Jones Gonville and Caius1932 Lent Mr A.H. Snell Jesus1932 Easter Mr A.E. Holdsworth Gonville and Caius1932 Michaelmas Mr S.S. Dhavan Emmanuel1933 Lent Mr T.R. Leathem St John’s1933 Easter Mr M.L. Barkway Queens’1933 Michaelmas Mr T.A.W. Blackwell Magdalene1934 Lent Mr S.B.R. Cooke Gonville and Caius1934 Easter Mr G. De Freitas Clare1934 Michaelmas Mr E.H.G. Evans Gonville and Caius1935 Lent Count D.M. Tolstoy-Miloslavsky Trinity1935 Easter Mr C.J.M. Alport Pembroke1935 Michaelmas Mr A.W.G. Kean Queens’1936 Lent Mr C. Fletcher Cooke Peterhouse1936 Easter Mr J.A. Dobbs Trinity Hall1936 Michaelmas Mr R.L. Miall St John’s1937 Lent Mr G.B. Croasdell Pembroke1937 Easter Mr R.V. Gibson Gonville and Caius1937 Michaelmas Mr F. Singleton Emmanuel1938 Lent Mr J.M. Simonds Magdalene1938 Easter Mr P.R. Noakes Queens’1938 Michaelmas Mr S.M. Kumaramangalam King’s1939 Lent Hon. P.T.T. Butler Trinity1939 Easter Mr P.B. Hague Emmanuel1939 Michaelmas Mr P.G.B. Keuneman Pembroke

The election of Officers was suspended and a Committee of Management appointed. The following Chairmen of Debates were elected.

The election of officers was resumed.

It was resolved at a Private Business Meeting held on Monday, May 8, 1916, to hold no elections for termly officers in the Easter Term, nor subsequently for the duration of War, and that the functions of the Standing Committee be performed by the ex officio membersof the Committee.

1939 Michaelmas Mr R.R. Pittam Pembroke1940 Lent Mr G.L. Stewart Fitzwilliam House1940 Easter Mr J.R.A. Bottomley Trinity1940 Michaelmas Debates suspended1941 Lent Mr J. Maynard Smith Trinity1941 Easter Debates suspended1941 Michaelmas Debates suspended1942 Lent Debates suspended1942 Easter Mr H.B. Dunkerley King’s1942 Michaelmas Mr G.A. Leven Trinity

1943 Lent Mr R.S. Taylor St Catharine’s1943 Easter Mr N.D. Sandelson Trinity1943 Michaelmas Mr R.R. Feilden Corpus Christi1944 Lent Mr J.S.B. Butler King’s1944 Easter Mr C. Salmon Trinity Hall

1944 Michaelmas Mr P. Goldman Pembroke1945 Lent Mr S. Clement Davies Trinity Hall1945 Easter Mr D.J.W. Coward Trinity1945 Michaelmas Mr M.P. Frankel Peterhouse1946 Lent Mr G.J. Carter Magdalene1946 Easter Mr W.J.E. Coventon Magdalene1946 Michaelmas Mr G.F. Boston Magdalene1947 Lent Mr W.H.L. Richmond Trinity1947 Easter Mr I.S. Lloyd King’s1947 Michaelmas Mr R.C.M. Young King’s1948 Lent Mr H.J.C. Berkeley Pembroke1948 Easter Mr D.E.C. Price Trinity1948 Michaelmas Mr T.C. Hewlett Magdalene1949 Lent Mr G.W. Pattison St John’s1949 Easter Mr P.C.M. Curtis-Bennett Christ’s1949 Michaelmas Mr D.K. Freeth Trinity Hall1950 Lent Mr P. Cradock St John’s1950 Easter Mr N. St John-Stevas Fitzwilliam House1950 Michaelmas Mr R.G. Waterhouse St John’s1951 Lent Mr J. Ashley Gonville and Caius

Mr G. Mathur Magdalene1951 Easter Mr D.G. Macmillan Magdalene1951 Michaelmas Mr F.J. Williams Trinity1952 Lent Mr G.E. Janner Trinity Hall1952 Easter Mr D.R. Hurd Trinity1952 Michaelmas Mr A.H. Sampson Selwyn1953 Lent Mr P.J. Mansfield Pembroke1953 Easter Mr I.J. McIntyre St John’s1953 Michaelmas Mr H.S. Thomas Queens’1954 Lent Mr D. Mirfin Magdalene1954 Easter Mr N.O. Tomalin Trinity Hall1954 Michaelmas Mr G. Shaw St John’s1955 Lent Mr R.G. Moore Trinity1955 Easter Mr J.D. Waite Corpus Christi1955 Michaelmas Mr J.N. Crichton-Miller Pembroke1956 Lent Mr M.D. Rosenhead St John’s1956 Easter Mr R.F. Peierls Gonville and Caius1956 Michaelmas Mr K.W.J. Post St John’s1957 Lent Mr N.H. Marshall St John’s1957 Easter Mr D.R. Fairbairn Gonville and Caius1957 Michaelmas Mr K.G. MacInnes Trinity1958 Lent Mr C.T. Norman-Butler Trinity1958 Easter Mr T.L. Higgins Gonville and Caius1958 Michaelmas Mr J.H. Cockcroft St John’s1959 Lent Hon. J.P.F. St L. Grenfell King’s1959 Easter Mr J.W.F. Nott Trinity1959 Michaelmas Mr B. Walsh Gonville and Caius1960 Lent Mr C.S. Tugendhat Gonville and Caius1960 Easter Mr L.A.C.F. Giovene di Girasole St Catharine’s1960 Michaelmas Mr L. Brittan Trinity1961 Lent Mr A. Firth Trinity1961 Easter Mr A.C. Renfrew St John’s1961 Michaelmas Mr P.G. Hancock Emmanuel1962 Lent Mr J.S. Gummer Selwyn1962 Easter Mr M Howard Peterhouse1962 Michaelmas Mr B.H. Pollitt King’s1963 Lent Mr W.I.C. Binnie Pembroke1963 Easter Mr K.H. Clarke Gonville and Caius1963 Michaelmas Mr O. Weaver Trinity1964 Lent Mr N.S.H. Lamont Fitzwilliam House1964 Easter Mr C.E. Lysaght Christ’s1964 Michaelmas Mr J.C.H. Davies Emmanuel1965 Lent Mr P.S. Fullerton Gonville and Caius1965 Easter Mr J.V. Cable Fitzwilliam House1965 Michaelmas Mr J.M.J. Burford Emmanuel1966 Lent Mr R.A. Perlman St Catharine’s1966 Easter Mr A.J. Vinson Gonville and Caius1966 Michaelmas Mr B.P. Crossley Trinity1967 Lent Mr M. Horowitz Pembroke1967 Easter Mr N.P.R. Wall Trinity1967 Michaelmas Ms A. Mallalieu Newnham1968 Lent Mr I. Martin Emmanuel1968 Easter Mr G.W. Martin Magdalene

1969 Michaelmas Mr H.R.D. Anderson Trinity1970 Lent Mr R.K. Evans Trinity Hall1970 Easter Mr R. Dhavan Emmanuel1970 Michaelmas Mr N.F. Stadlen Trinity1971 Lent Mr P.L. Heslop Christ’s1971 Easter Mr R.M. Jackson Jesus1971 Michaelmas Ms A-A. Stassinopoulos Girton1972 Lent Mr D.J. Powell St Catharine’s1972 Easter Mr K.F. Carey Downing1972 Michaelmas Mr C.R. Smith Pembroke1973 Lent Mr A.G. Oppenheimer Trinity1973 Easter Mr D.A. Grace Magdalene1973 Michaelmas Mr E.M. Goyder Trinity1974 Lent Mr H.H.J. Carter Gonville and Caius1974 Easter Mr J.T. Harris Trinity1974 Michaelmas Mr P.S. Weil Jesus1975 Lent Mr D.M. Bean Trinity Hall1975 Easter Mr D.P. Condit Trinity1975 Michaelmas Mr P.L. Bazalgette Fitzwilliam1976 Lent Mr C.J. Greenwood Magdalene1976 Easter Mr D.W. Johnson Selwyn1976 Michaelmas Mr P.J. Fudakowski Magdalene1977 Lent Mr K. Thapar Pembroke1977 Easter Mr A.T.A. Dallas Emmanuel1977 Michaelmas Mr J.A. Turner Gonville and Caius1978 Lent Mr A.J.B. Mitchell Jesus1978 Easter Mr R.D. Harris Selwyn1978 Michaelmas Mr D.J.M. Janner Trinity Hall1979 Lent Mr E.J.I. Stourton Trinity1979 Easter Mr D.J.A. Casserley Jesus1979 Michaelmas Mr M.J. Booth Trinity1980 Lent Mr M.A. Bishop Downing1980 Easter Ms M.J. Libby Girton1980 Michaelmas Mr C.H. Gallagher Jesus1981 Lent Mr D.N. Senior Jesus1981 Easter Mr P.M. Sugarman St John’s1981 Michaelmas Mr G.W.C. Kavanagh St John’s1982 Lent Mr P.N.L. Harvey St Catharine’s1982 Easter Mr S.R.M. Baynes Magdalene1982 Michaelmas Mr B.C. Jenkin Corpus Christi1983 Lent Mr S.H. Milton Gonville and Caius1983 Easter Ms M. McDonagh New Hall1983 Michaelmas Mr J.A. Lloyd Fitzwilliam1984 Lent Mr G.B. Davies St John’s1984 Easter Mr A.J.H. Lownie Magdalene1984 Michaelmas Ms L. Chapman-Jury St John’s1985 Lent Mr L.P. Anisfeld Trinity1985 Easter Mr C.D. Blackwood Gonville and Caius1985 Michaelmas Mr D.N. Walbank Queens’1986 Lent Mr T.H. Oliver St John’s1986 Easter Mr C.D. Steele Girton1986 Michaelmas Mr C.G. Earles Sidney Sussex1987 Lent Mr M.P.N. Tod St John’s1987 Easter Mr M.P. Lindsay Magdalene1987 Michaelmas Mr A.P. Ground St John’s1988 Lent Mr S.J. Greenhalgh Trinity1988 Easter Mr C.M. Kelly Trinity1988 Michaelmas Mr P.C.W. Pressdee St John’s1989 Lent Mr A. Aithal Trinity1989 Easter Ms C.A. Doerries New Hall1989 Michaelmas Mr N.A. Pink Pembroke1990 Lent Mr C.H.M. Robson St John’s1990 Easter Mr D.C. Willink Magdalene1990 Michaelmas Mr M.F. Harris Corpus Christi1991 Lent Mr M.S. Scott-Fleming Magdalene1991 Easter Mr R.S. Mitter King’s1991 Michaelmas Ms E.D. Johnson Queens’1992 Lent Mr S.P.J. Nixon Trinity1992 Easter Ms C.V. Balding Newnham1992 Michaelmas Mr N.P. Allen Emmanuel1993 Lent Mr B.M. Elkington Trinity1993 Easter Mr G.L. Barwell Trinity1993 Michaelmas Ms L.C. Frazer Newnham1994 Lent Mr S. Swaroop Magdalene1994 Easter Mr C.M. Farmer Magdalene1994 Michaelmas Mr S.D. Kirk Emmanuel1995 Lent Ms R.C. Penn Churchill1995 Easter Mr N.J. Boys Smith Peterhouse

1995 Michaelmas Mr D.H. Branch Magdalene1996 Lent Mr N. Chatrath Jesus1996 Easter Mr A. Cannon Magdalene1996 Michaelmas Ms I. Waddell Newnham1997 Lent Mr A. Leek Emmanuel1997 Easter Mr J. Shapiro Peterhouse1997 Michaelmas Mr G. Weetman Christ’s1998 Lent Ms S. Raine Trinity1998 Easter Ms R. Durkin Corpus Christi1998 Michaelmas Mr A. Slater Corpus Christi1999 Lent Mr O. Wellings Pembroke1999 Easter Ms S. Gledhill Christ’s1999 Michaelmas Mr G. Bevis Magdalene2000 Lent Ms V. Perkins Pembroke2000 Easter Ms A. Newton Newnham2000 Michaelmas Mr P.J. Abbott Magdalene2001 Lent Ms D. Newman Fitzwilliam2001 Easter Mr W.M. Tan Trinity2001 Michaelmas Mr J.M. Brier Christ’s2002 Lent Mr J. Devanny Jesus2002 Easter Mr M.W.S. Lynas Trinity2002 Michaelmas Mr T.B. Kibasi Trinity

Mr T.H. Jeffery Trinity2003 Lent Mr S.K. Kabraji Trinity2003 Easter Mr E.C. Cumming Downing2003 Michaelmas Mr W.E. Gallagher Trinity Hall2004 Lent Mr S.G. Parkinson Emmanuel2004 Easter Ms K.I.D.I. Steadman New Hall2004 Michaelmas Mr R. Friedman Emmanuel2005 Lent Mr A.E. Ross Fitzwilliam2005 Easter Mr J.M. Khan Trinity2005 Michaelmas Ms J.R. Scott Pembroke2006 Lent Ms S.J. Pobereskin King’s2006 Easter Ms A. Thompson Trinity2006 Michaelmas Mr L.E. Pearce King’s2007 Lent Mr M. Jacobson St. John’s2007 Easter Mr A. Al-Ansari Homerton2007 Michaelmas Mr R.J.A. Foxcroft Churchill2008 Lent Mr W.P. Wearden King’s

Mr L. Wei Churchill2008 Easter Mr E.D. Bishton Fitzwilliam2008 Michaelmas Mr A. Bott Sidney Sussex2009 Lent Ms O.F. Potts Corpus Christi2009 Easter Mr L. Fear-Segal Robinson2009 Michaelmas Mr J. Domercq King’s2010 Lent Mr J.D. Laurence Christ’s2010 Easter Mr A.P. Chapman Robinson2010 Michaelmas Mr J. Counsell Sidney Sussex2011 Lent Ms L.E.S. Davidson Christ’s2011 Easter Ms F.I.R. Hill Trinity Hall2011 Michaelmas Mr C.C. Macdonald Downing2012 Lent Ms K. Lam Trinity2012 Easter Mr D. J. Leigh St Catharine’s

Mr M.A. Black Magdalene2012 Michaelmas Mr A. Mahler Trinity Hall2013 Lent Mr B.L.F. Kentish Emmanuel2013 Easter Mr J.G. Fenster Selwyn2013 Michaelmas Ms J. Mobed Murray Edwards2014 Lent Ms I.K. Schön Murray Edwards2014 Easter Mr M.C. Dunn Goekjian Trinity2014 Michaelmas Mr T.J.M. Squirrell Churchill2015 Lent Ms A.E.J. Gregg Murray Edwards2015 Easter Mr C.C. Epaminondas Trinity

1969 Easter Ms H.V. Middleweek Newnham

1968 Michaelmas Mr K.W. Jarrold Sidney Sussex1969 Lent Mr P.J. Tyson-Cain Downing

64 Celebrating 200 Years

THE Union’s bicentenary has involved three years of planning. This naturally warrants that I thank many individuals and organisations.

I am indebted to Sir Richard Dearlove, Janet Turner QC, Andy Swarbrick, Nigel Brown, Nick Heath, Nigel Yandell and Daniel Janner QC. Their stewardship of the Society, as members of the Board of Trustees, has given rise to many of the marvellous accomplishments which we are celebrating tonight. They have given guidance and encouragement throughout my involvement with the Union and for this I thank them most deeply. The Lent 2015 Standing Committee has worked indefatigably to organise and manage an outstanding term to mark the bicentenary. Amy Gregg has led her term with assurance and aplomb and has delivered one of the best termcards that I have seen in a long time. I thank her for working with me so closely to ensure that the celebrations run smoothly. I am grateful to the Union’s staff, especially Dr Dave Sellick, for the seamless administration that has gone behind the scenes and to Patrick Hanwell for restoring many of the rooms to their former glory. I am indebted to our tireless and unflappable bursar, Bill Bailey. He and I began discussing the bicentenary almost three years ago. He has been a source of constant support and I can say without hesitation that he is the finest asset that the Union has, or is likely to have. The relationship that the Union has built with our esteemed partner, Deloitte, has enabled this event to go forward, and I hope that all tonight's attendees will recognise the crucial contribution that Deloitte has provided. Deloitte has been our partner for the last two years. They have helped to redesign our website; enabled us to broadcast our events using CUS Live and improved our access programmes. I hope that this relationship will continue for many years to come. I also thank our sponsors Lorze Capital, the Telegraph Media Group, Cobra Beer, Forman and Field as well as FTI Consulting. Without their support the bicentenary year could not have happened.

I owe my deepest gratitude to the 2015 Steering Committee. Current Standing Committee members Nick Wright and Oliver Mosley have contributed what little free time they have left after planning a term to ensuring the bicentenary celebrations are a success. They exemplify all of the qualities that one would hope to find in every Union officer. In addition recent ex-officio Committee members including Jiameng Gao, Craig Slade, Imogen Schön, Sophie Odenthal and Daniel Hyman were generous enough to return and contribute their knowledge and experience. I also thank Stephen Parkinson, who knows more about 9a Bridge Street than anyone I have ever met, for providing reassurance throughout the planning stages. I have been fortunate enough to have been privy to the wise and sage counsel of many former Presidents and committee members. Lord Lamont has given me the benefit of his advice on numerous occasions. Lord Justice Bean was kind enough to meet with me at the beginning of this endeavour. He gave me many pointers on where to begin. I also gleaned valuable insight from Sir Peter Bazalgette and Lord Turner. My final words of appreciation go to Joanna Mobed. She understands the trials and travails of organising a Union term, but was nevertheless ready to help me plan the bicentenary. Without her unwavering support and backing I would have given up long ago.

Thank You from the ChairAlex Forzani

the bicentenary booklet

Documents