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Oxford University Conservative Association
The Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA) is a student Conservative association founded in 1924, whose members are drawn from the University of Oxford. Since October 2009, OUCA has been affiliated with Conservative Future and its successor, the Young Conservatives, the Conservative Party youth wing.
OUCA alumni include many prominent Conservative Party figures, including four former prime ministers of the United Kingdom and scores of former cabinet ministers and senior government officials. Among them are Margaret Thatcher, Edward Heath, David Cameron, Theresa May, William Hague, Jeremy Hunt, Sir George Young, Ann Widdecombe, Jacob Rees-Mogg and the Earl of Dartmouth. Thatcher and Heath served as presidents of the association, as did prominent British journalists Jonathan Aitken, William Rees-Mogg, Daniel Hannan and Nick Robinson. Since the 1950s, at least one ex-president has been in every Conservative cabinet. Former Labour ministers Ed Balls and Chris Bryant are also OUCA alumni.
OUCA is run by its officers and committee, who are elected on a termly basis. The association has six senior officers, namely the president, the president-elect, the treasurer, the treasurer-elect, the secretary, and the political officer, who chairs Port and Policy each week and is also responsible for organising campaigning events and social action. Four junior officers also help manage the association, as do its eight committee members (two of which are appointed by officers without an election). OUCA's returning officer is responsible for running the elections and for administering the association's internal disciplinary procedures. The president may appoint non-executive officers, such as a graduate officer.
In October 2018, OUCA announced that members of the Bullingdon Club would be banned from holding office within the association, with OUCA's president stating the club's "values and activities had no place in the modern Conservative Party". This decision was overturned by the association's disciplinary committee, as non-members were brought to the council meeting that voted for the ban. Despite this, the ban was subsequently reimposed by the association's senior member, Brian Young.
OUCA members sometimes stand for election to Oxford City Council. The council has traditionally been Labour-dominated, and the Conservatives have not held a seat on it since 2001. Alexander Stafford (president, Michaelmas 2007) stood unsuccessfully for Holywell Ward in the 2008 Oxford City Council election, achieving an 8.2% swing for the Conservatives. His brother Gregory, now a councillor in the London Borough of Ealing, stood in the same ward in 2004. More recently, Poppy Stokes and OUCA president Maryam Ahmed stood for the Conservatives in the 2014 Oxford City Council Election in the Holywell and Carfax wards respectively. This trend of putting up students as candidates in the city centre continued in the 2016 city council election, when OUCA president, George Walker, stood in Holywell Ward.
Julian Critchley described the OUCA that he encountered on his arrival at Pembroke College in 1951. Despite its 2,000 members, he said, "it was dominated by a patrician clique who preserved their power by preventing the membership at large from electing officers of the association. These were chosen by the committee which, although directly elected, was easily open to manipulation." Critchley and Michael Heseltine, defeated in their bids for OUCA office, set up a rival Conservative society, the Blue Ribbon Club.
In 1965, a group of OUCA members formed the Oxford University Tory Reform Group, pre-dating the national Tory Reform Group organisation. The OUTRG acted as a "one nation conservative" pressure group in Oxford, although it had a substantially smaller membership than OUCA. Interest declined as the national party became more moderate, and the OUTRG voted to disband and merge with OUCA during Michaelmas term 2007.
In an email to OUTRG members, its president Luke Connoly reported that an extraordinary general meeting held at the Lamb & Flag pub at 3 pm on 18 November 2007 unanimously voted to dissolve the OUTRG as of midday Saturday 8th week (1 December 2007) and to merge with OUCA. He cited falling attendance and a belief that OUCA had "genuinely become more liberal", adding that the merger "will make debate between wings of the party much easier and more productive". Later in the year, Douglas Hurd, a patron of the national TRG, lamented the disbanding of the Oxford branch, saying that it was "very important that the One Nation view is powerfully represented".
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Oxford University Conservative Association
The Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA) is a student Conservative association founded in 1924, whose members are drawn from the University of Oxford. Since October 2009, OUCA has been affiliated with Conservative Future and its successor, the Young Conservatives, the Conservative Party youth wing.
OUCA alumni include many prominent Conservative Party figures, including four former prime ministers of the United Kingdom and scores of former cabinet ministers and senior government officials. Among them are Margaret Thatcher, Edward Heath, David Cameron, Theresa May, William Hague, Jeremy Hunt, Sir George Young, Ann Widdecombe, Jacob Rees-Mogg and the Earl of Dartmouth. Thatcher and Heath served as presidents of the association, as did prominent British journalists Jonathan Aitken, William Rees-Mogg, Daniel Hannan and Nick Robinson. Since the 1950s, at least one ex-president has been in every Conservative cabinet. Former Labour ministers Ed Balls and Chris Bryant are also OUCA alumni.
OUCA is run by its officers and committee, who are elected on a termly basis. The association has six senior officers, namely the president, the president-elect, the treasurer, the treasurer-elect, the secretary, and the political officer, who chairs Port and Policy each week and is also responsible for organising campaigning events and social action. Four junior officers also help manage the association, as do its eight committee members (two of which are appointed by officers without an election). OUCA's returning officer is responsible for running the elections and for administering the association's internal disciplinary procedures. The president may appoint non-executive officers, such as a graduate officer.
In October 2018, OUCA announced that members of the Bullingdon Club would be banned from holding office within the association, with OUCA's president stating the club's "values and activities had no place in the modern Conservative Party". This decision was overturned by the association's disciplinary committee, as non-members were brought to the council meeting that voted for the ban. Despite this, the ban was subsequently reimposed by the association's senior member, Brian Young.
OUCA members sometimes stand for election to Oxford City Council. The council has traditionally been Labour-dominated, and the Conservatives have not held a seat on it since 2001. Alexander Stafford (president, Michaelmas 2007) stood unsuccessfully for Holywell Ward in the 2008 Oxford City Council election, achieving an 8.2% swing for the Conservatives. His brother Gregory, now a councillor in the London Borough of Ealing, stood in the same ward in 2004. More recently, Poppy Stokes and OUCA president Maryam Ahmed stood for the Conservatives in the 2014 Oxford City Council Election in the Holywell and Carfax wards respectively. This trend of putting up students as candidates in the city centre continued in the 2016 city council election, when OUCA president, George Walker, stood in Holywell Ward.
Julian Critchley described the OUCA that he encountered on his arrival at Pembroke College in 1951. Despite its 2,000 members, he said, "it was dominated by a patrician clique who preserved their power by preventing the membership at large from electing officers of the association. These were chosen by the committee which, although directly elected, was easily open to manipulation." Critchley and Michael Heseltine, defeated in their bids for OUCA office, set up a rival Conservative society, the Blue Ribbon Club.
In 1965, a group of OUCA members formed the Oxford University Tory Reform Group, pre-dating the national Tory Reform Group organisation. The OUTRG acted as a "one nation conservative" pressure group in Oxford, although it had a substantially smaller membership than OUCA. Interest declined as the national party became more moderate, and the OUTRG voted to disband and merge with OUCA during Michaelmas term 2007.
In an email to OUTRG members, its president Luke Connoly reported that an extraordinary general meeting held at the Lamb & Flag pub at 3 pm on 18 November 2007 unanimously voted to dissolve the OUTRG as of midday Saturday 8th week (1 December 2007) and to merge with OUCA. He cited falling attendance and a belief that OUCA had "genuinely become more liberal", adding that the merger "will make debate between wings of the party much easier and more productive". Later in the year, Douglas Hurd, a patron of the national TRG, lamented the disbanding of the Oxford branch, saying that it was "very important that the One Nation view is powerfully represented".