List_of_Presidents_of_the_Oxford_Union

List of presidents of the Oxford Union

List of presidents of the Oxford Union

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Past elected presidents of the Oxford Union are listed below, with their college and the year/term in which they served. Iterum indicates that a person was serving a second term as president (which is not possible under the current Union rules).

Key to colleges

Presidents of the United Debating Society

These are the Presidents as listed[1]

Presidents of the Oxford Union Society

1826–1831

These are the presidents as listed:[1][12][13]

More information Year, Michaelmas ...

1831–1850

More information Year, Michaelmas ...

1850–1875

More information Year, Michaelmas ...

1875–1900

More information Year, Michaelmas ...

1900–1925

More information Year, Michaelmas ...

1925–1950

More information Year, Michaelmas ...

1950–1975

More information Year, Michaelmas ...

1975–2000

More information Year, Michaelmas ...

2000–present

More information Year, Michaelmas ...

Other notable officeholders

The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury was Union Secretary in Michaelmas 1848.

Harold Macmillan was Secretary of the Union in Hilary 1914, then Junior Treasurer (elected unopposed, which was then very unusual) in Trinity 1914; but for the war he would "almost certainly" have been President.[153]

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike was Treasurer in Trinity 1924.[154]

Humayun Kabir was Librarian in 1931.[154]

Roy Jenkins served as Librarian and Secretary and lost two Presidential elections.[155][156]

Norman St John-Stevas was Secretary of the Oxford Union but never became President despite his ambition to be the first person to be President of both Oxford and Cambridge Unions; he had been President of the Cambridge Union during his undergraduate years, before he studied at Oxford.[157]

Ann Widdecombe was Treasurer in 1972, after having served as Secretary the previous year.[158][159]

Jacob Rees-Mogg was Librarian in 1990, losing the election for the presidency to future Education Secretary Damian Hinds.[160]

In fiction

  • Simon Kerslake (early 1950s), protagonist of the Jeffrey Archer novel First Among Equals invites sitting Prime Minister Winston Churchill to propose the motion during Eights Week that "This House Would Rather be a Commoner than a Lord". His future rival, The Hon. Charles Seymour listens from the floor and resolves to enter politics also.[161] Archer himself was elected to Standing Committee for one term in 1965.[162]

Notes

  1. [n 1]
    Resigned
  2. [n 2]
    Killed during the First World War
  3. [n 3]
    Killed during the Second World War
  4. [n 4]
    Elected but did not hold office because of war service
  1. Thomas Frederick Amelius Parry Hodges (1801/2 – 27 October 1880) was also a fellow of his alma mater and was vicar of North Clifton with Harby, Nottinghamshire and of Lyme Regis.[3]
  2. Charles des Voeux (29 April 1802 – 9 August 1833[4]) was the eldest son of Sir Charles Des Voeux, 2nd Baronet.[5]
  3. Arthur James Lewis (1800/1 in Cannanore 14 November 1865) later became Advocate-General of Bombay.[6]
  4. Hassard Hume Dodgson (1803/4 – fl. 1872) was a master of the Common Pleas[7] and was the father-in-law of Charles Edward Pollock.[8]
  5. Robert Vernon Atherton Hornby (1805/6 – September 1857)[10]
  6. John Ryle Wood (1806/7 – 9 November 1886) was later vicar of St John-in-Bedwardine, canon of Worcester Cathedral, and Chaplain to the Duke of Cambridge.[11]
  7. Douglas Smith (1804/5 – 1829)[14]
  8. John Pearson (1806/7 fl. 1828), previously educated at Eton College, later became a barrister after graduating from Lincoln's Inn[15][16]
  9. Edward Massie (1805/6 – fl. 1845) was later a chaplain.[19]
  10. Sinclair attended St Mary Hall, Oxford. Associated with Oriel since 1326, it functioned independently from 1545 to 1902, before being incorporated into Oriel upon the death of its Principal, Drummond Percy Chase. Thus, St Mary Hall's coat of arms is substituted with that of the university itself.
  11. John Adams (1813 – 18 September 1848), of the landed family of Ansty Hall and the eldest half-brother of novelist Henry Cadwallader Adams, later became a barrister-at-law in the Middle Temple.[20][21]
  12. Thomas Brancker (1812/3 – 11 November 1871) was later rector of St Mary's Church, Limington and prebendary of Wells Cathedral.[22]
  13. William Nathaniel Tilson Marsh Lushington Tilson FZS FRGS FRHS (1815/6 – January 1881) was the perpetual curate of St James' Church, Ryde and of St Leonard's Church, St Leonards-on-Sea.[24] His wife was a niece of Charles Morgan, 1st Baron Tredegar.[25]
  14. George Robertson Moncreiff (29 January 1817 – fl. 1884), a younger brother of Sir Henry Wellwood-Moncreiff, 10th Baronet, was HM Inspector of Schools from 1850 to 1873.[27]
  15. Henry William Sullivan (1814/5 – 22 March 1880) was later rector of Yoxall[29]
  16. Rev. Charles Thomas Arnold (1817/8 – 13 May 1878) was later an assistant master at Rugby School who wrote articles for the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.[31][32]
  17. James Timothy Bainbridge Landon (1816/7 – fl. 1877) was later vicar of Ledsham, West Yorkshire and canon of York Minster.[34]
  18. William Henry Scott (1819/20 – 17 September 1859) was a grandson of Sir Joseph Scott, 1st Baronet.[37][38]
  19. Henry Master White (1820/1 – fl. 1871) was later vicar of Masbrough and, in the Cape Colony, principal of Diocesan College and Archdeacon of Grahamstown.[40]
  20. Robert James Simpson (1825/6 – fl. 1886) was vicar of Upton, Buckinghamshire (1867–79), St Clement Danes (1869–79), and St Peter Eltham (1886–?).[43]
  21. Samuel Joseph Hulme (1823/4 – 12 December 1886) was rector of St Martin's Carfax, Oxford and of Bourton-on-the-Water.[44]
  22. Charles Holbrow Stanton (1825 – fl. 1876) was later admitted to the bar at Lincoln's Inn and became an barrister in the Oxford circuit.[45][46]
  23. Walter Congreve (1824/5 – fl. 1850)[47]
  24. George Raymond Portal (28 February 1827 – 3 April 1889), a brother of Sir Wyndham Portal, 1st Baronet, was later rector of Albury, Surrey and of Burghclere.[48][49]
  25. John Rowe Kelley Ralph (1824 – 5 December 1885) was later a barrister who served on the North Wales and Chester Circuit.[53][54]
  26. Edward Bridges Lomer (1827/8 – 6 August 1865) was later a barrister-at-law.[55]
  27. John FitzGerald (1830/1 – fl. 1857) was later vicar of Borden, Kent and Camden Town.[57]
  28. Robert Edward Bartlett (1829/30 – fl. 1876) was later vicar of Great Waltham and his son was the brother-in-law of Edward Bruce Alexander.[63][64]
  29. John Henry Bridges (1851/2 – fl. 1876)[65]
  30. Thomas Robert Halcombe (1833/4 – 22 July 1880) was later curate of Addlestone.[69]
  31. Edward Kedington Bennet (1833/4 – fl. 1885) was later rector of Bunwell.[71]
  32. Alfred Robinson (1840/1 – fl. 1875) was later sub-warden of New College, Oxford.[82]
  33. The first president of East Asian descent, he is the CEO of Byline, a crowdfunded journalism platform.[121]
  34. Price was the first graduate president of the Union, having graduated in 2013. He was elected after members voted to re-open nominations in a first election and a second election was called. The second election was found to have been hacked, having taken place online due to Covid-19, with over 500 votes made illegitimately. The Standing Committee decided to discard the illegitimate votes and accept the results of the remaining ballots, declaring Price elected.[131][132]
  35. Nawaz was removed as president in November 2022 after he was forced to resign for missing committee meetings. The Union membership voted 251-164 to uphold Nawaz's automatic resignation and Charlie Mackintosh replaced him as acting president on 18 November 2022.[138][139]
  36. Leo Buckley was initially declared President-Elect,[145][146] but an election tribunal disqualified him for electoral malpractice and declared Julia Maranhao-Wong elected.[147] Buckley appealed the decision;[148] in February 2024 it was decided that the role of President-Elect should be left vacant and that the presidency would be offered to the incoming Librarian Louis Wilson.[144]
  37. Ebrahim Osman-Mowafy was initially elected,[150] but an election tribunal in June 2024 disqualified him and ordered a recount.[149]

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