List of presidents of the Oxford Union

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

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Presidents of the United Debating Society

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These are the Presidents as listed[1]

Presidents of the Oxford Union Society

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1826–1850

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

Year Michaelmas Hilary Trinity
1826 — Hassard Hume Dodgson[d][n 1][12][13]
Digby Wrangham[12]		 Richard Durnford[n 1][2][12]
E. E. Villiers (iterum)[12]
1826–27 R. A. Hornby[e][12] Norman Hilton Macdonald[12]
Douglas Smith[g][n 1]
Henry Tufnell[12] 		J. Pearson[h][12]
Edward Twisleton[12]
1827–28 William Courtenay[17][12]
Herman Merivale[12] 		Douglas Smith (iterum)[g][12] Thomas Hobhouse[12]
A. Grant[12]
1828–29 Charles Baring[12] Henry Wilberforce[12]
Thomas Acland[9][12] 		H. W. Moncrieff[12]
1829–30 Henry Manning[n 1][12]
Henry Wilberforce (iterum)[n 1][12][13] 		Sidney Herbert James Gaskell[12]
1830–31 James Gaskell[12]
William Gladstone[12] 		James Bruce[12]
Joseph Anstice 		John Lyall[12]
1831–32 Earl of Lincoln G. K. Rickards Roundell Palmer[18][13]
1832–33 William Ward Edward Cardwell Archibald Tait
1833–34 Edward Massie[i] Robert Lowe
Charles Marriott 		William Sinclair[j]
1834–35 J. Adams[k] William Ward (iterum) J. M. Capes
1835–36 Edward Cardwell (iterum) T. Brancker[l] John Cornish[23][13]
1836–37 W. N. Tilson-Marsh[m] Henry Cripps[26][13] G. R. Moncrieff[n]
1837–38 James Hessey William Ridley W. C. Lake[28][13]
1838–39 Henry Highton G. R. Moncrieff[n] (iterum) H. W. Sullivan[o]
1839–40 William Buckley J. B. Blackett George Rawlinson[30][13]
1840–41 C. T. Arnold[p] R. C. Powles[33][13] J. T. B. Landon[q]
1841–42 Richard Congreve[35][13] Melville Portal Drummond Chase
1842–43 Edward Plumptre George Bowen[36][13] W. H. Scott[r]
1843–44 John Coleridge[39][13] H. M. White[s] John Mackarness[41][13]
1844–45 George Bowen[36][13](iterum) Alfred Pott[42][13] John G. Cazenove
1846–47 Francis Sandford John Conington[41] R. J. Simpson[t]
1848–49 S. J. Hulme[u] C. H. Stanton[v] Earl of Dufferin[n 1]
W. B. Marriott
1847–48 George Hunt Walter Congreve[w] Montagu Blackett[41]
1848–49 G. R. Portal[x] F. Meyrick[50] George Boyle
1849–50 William Milman[51][52] J. R. K. Ralph[y] Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen

1850–1875

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Year Michaelmas Hilary Trinity
1850–51 E. B. Lomer[z] Alexander Mitchell Henry Smith
1851–52 Frederick Lygon Walter Shirley Henry Oxenham
1852–53 C. H. Pearson[56][13] J. Fitzgerald[aa] Benjamin Rogers[58][13]
1853–54 George Goschen[59][13] Arthur Butler[60][13] Godfrey Lushington[61][13]
1854–55 George C. Brodrick[62][13] Robert Bartlett[ab] J. H. Bridges[ac][66][13]
1855–56 D. C. Lathbury Charles Turner[67][13] W. F. Wilberforce
1856–57 John Oakley Philip Eliot John Mitchinson[68][13]
1857–58 T. R. Halcombe[ad] Thomas Fowle Charles Bowen[70][13]
1858–59 E. K. Bennet[ae] A. V. Dicey[72][13] A. O. Rutson[73]
1859–60 Peter Fogg Edward Moore[74][13] H. L. Harrison
1860–61 Francis Beaumont[75][13][76] Kenelm Digby[77][13] Thomas Green
1861–62 J. R. Magrath[78][13] Auberon Herbert[n 1][79][13]
A. H. Beesly 		James Bryce[60][13]
1862–63 O. W. Tancock Reginald Smith[80][13]
 Reginald Abbot[81][13]
1863–64 Alfred Robinson[af][83][13] William Fearon[84][13]
 Francis Jeune[85][13]
1864–65 A. A. Clive Alfred Robinson[83][13](iterum) R. Robinson
1865–66 Courtenay Ilbert[86][13] Edward Talbot[87][13] George Simcox[88][13]
1866–67 William Awdry[89][13] William Sanday[90][13] Lord Francis Hervey[91]
1867–68 James Strachan-Davidson[92][13] Reginald Copleston[93][13] Edward Talbot[87][13] (iterum)
1868–69 Mandell Creighton[94][13] C. T. Redington Reginald Copleston[93][13] (iterum)
1869–70 Charles Fyffe William Duggan[95][13] A. H. Turner
1870–71 John Doyle[96][13] Thomas Grose[97][13] Herbert James[93][13]
1871–72 Walter Lock[98][13] Annan Bryce Henry Pope
1872–73 Charles Cruttwell[99][13] William M. Sinclair Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett
1873–74 Robert Mowbray[96][13] M. H. Gould H. H. Asquith[86][13]
1874–75 H. A. Venables Thomas Raleigh[100][13] Arthur Sloman[1]

1875–1900

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Year Michaelmas Hilary Trinity
1875–76 Herbert Paul George Savery Alfred Milner[83][13]
1876–77 Robert Haddon Dunbar Barton Viscount Lymington[n 1][101][13]
Arthur Baumann[101][13]
1877–78 Robert Horton[102][13] William St John Brodrick Robert Germaine
1878–79 Nathaniel Micklem Edward Poulton[103] F. R. Burrows
1879–80 Edward Cook Richard Dawson B. R. Wise
1880–81 George Curzon John Sargeaunt Charles White
1881–82 Edward Horsburgh John Hamilton[104] A. N. Cumming[101]
1882–83 Michael Sadler W. H. Shaw[92] Halford Mackinder[105]
1883–84 John Pemberton[106] A. Dyson Williams William Worsley
1884–85 Cosmo Lang[107] George Vidal[108] George Bellewes
1885–86 Robert Cecil Anthony Hawkins C. Emmott
1886–87 / Walter Phillips Charles Green C. J. Blacker
1887–88 H. M. Godfray A. J. McGregor A. J. Carlyle[109]
1888–89 Arthur Griffith-Boscawen Spurrier Parmiter Herbert Snowden
1889–90 George Mortimer George Peel Frank Coller
1890–91 Carl Knaus William Cozens-Hardy Lord Ampthill
1891–92 A. E. Ripley John Magee James Galbraith
1892–93 Robert Charles Phillimore C. H. Eliot William Lygon
1893–94 H. W. Liversidge Lord Balcarres F. E. Smith
1894–95 Herbert Morrah Hilaire Belloc P. J. Macdonell
1895–96 R. C. Phillimore (iterum) John Simon Archibald Boyd-Carpenter
1896–97 Francis Hirst Robert Johnson James Cleland
1897–98 F. Lenwood Edmund Bentley Cyril Garbett
1898–99 L. R. F. Oldershaw John Buchan Arthur Steel
1899–1900 G. M. Gathorne-Hardy Robert Ensor[105] Raymond Asquith[n 2][105]

1900–1925

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Year Michaelmas Hilary Trinity
1900–01 Harold Baker[105] Algernon Cecil[105] T. Cuthbertson[105]
1901–02 George Tomlinson[105] Sandie Lindsay[105] Eric Macfadyen[105]
1902–03 Herbert du Parcq[105] Herbert Asquith[105] F. W. Curran[105]
1903–04 John Brooke[105] William Temple[105] W. A. Moore[105]
1904–05 E. S. Jose[105] John Heath[105] Alexander Shaw[105]
1905–06 M. H. Woods[105] H. M. Paul[105] Henry Lygon[105]
1906–07 Gervais Rentoul[105] Neville Talbot[105] Will Gladstone[n 2][105]
1907–08 W. S. Armour[105] Charles Le Quesne[105] Hugh Hallett[105]
1908–09 M. H. Richmond[105] Ronald Knox[105] Edgar Swain[105]
1909–10 Robert Laffan[105] Robert S. A. Palmer[n 2][105] Leonard Stein[105]
1910–11 A. W. Cockburn[105] Nathaniel Micklem[105] Raymond Bevir[n 2][105]
1911–12 Philip Guedalla[105] Frank Griffith[105] Robert Barrington-Ward[105]
1912–13 G. S. Woodhouse[n 2][105] Walter Monckton[105] W. J. Bland[n 2][105]
1913–14 Godfrey Talbot[n 2][105] Ernest Roberts[105] Alexander Wedderburn[105]
1914–15 Arthur Wiggin[105]
N/A
N/A
1915–16
N/A
N/A
N/A
1916–17
N/A
N/A
N/A
1917–18
N/A
N/A
N/A
1918–19
N/A
N/A
 Leslie Hore-Belisha[105]
1919–20 Thomas Earp[105] Constantine Gallop[105] John Russell[105]
1920–21 Beverley Nichols[105] Alec Beechman[105] Cecil Ramage[105]
1921–22 Kenneth Lindsay[105] John Evans[105] Ralph Carson[105]
1922–23 Edward Marjoribanks[105] J. Douglas Woodruff[105] Gordon Bagnall[105]
1923–24 Christopher Hollis[105] Christopher Scaife[105] Gerald Gardiner[105]
1924–25 Henry Scrymgeour-Wedderburn[105] Robert Bernays[105] Vincent Lloyd-Jones[105]

1925–1950

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Year Michaelmas Hilary Trinity
1925–26 Hugh Molson[105] Gyles Isham[105] Lindley Fraser[105]
1926–27 Alan Lennox-Boyd[105] Roger Fulford[105] John Playfair Price[105]
1927–28 Malcolm Brereton[n 3][105] Dingle Foot[105] Aubrey Herbert[105]
1928–29 Somerset Stopford Brooke[105] Roger Wilson[105] Quintin Hogg[105]
1929–30 Michael Stewart[105] Edgar Lustgarten[105] J. P. W. Mallalieu[105]
1930–31 John Boyd-Carpenter[105] John Foot[105] Geoffrey Wilson[105]
1931–32 Toby O'Brien[105] Arthur Irvine[105] Brian Davidson[105]
1932–33 Christopher Smuts[105] Frank Hardie[105] Tony Greenwood[105]
1933–34 Michael Foot[105] Dosoo Karaka[105] Keith Steel-Maitland[105]
1934–35 W. G. Murray[105] David Lewis[105] James Hickerton[105]
1935–36 Brian Farrell[105] Ian Harvey[105] Bill Shebbeare[n 3][105]
1936–37 James Brown[105] Christopher Mayhew[105] Patrick Anderson[105]
1937–38 Alan Fyfe[n 3][105] Raymond Walton[105] Philip Toynbee[105]
1938–39 Alan Wood[105] Edward Heath[105] Hugh Fraser[105]
1939–40 A. F. Giles[n 4][105]
Nicholas Henderson[105] 		Madron Seligman[105] Robin Edmonds[105]
1940–41 James Comyn[105] Indar Bahadoorsingh[105] Kenneth Riddle[105]
1941–42 Michael Kinchin-Smith[105] Gershon Hirsch[105] F. P. R. Hinchliffe[105]
1942–43 James Cameron Tudor[105] Herbert Clarke[105] Courtney Blackmore[105]
1943–44 Godfrey le Quesne[105][110] Kenneth Lamb[105] Fernando Henriques[105]
1944–45 Tony Pickford[105] Alan Gibson[n 4][105]
Rudi Weisweiller[105] 		Anthony Walton[105]
1945-46 John Long[105] Basil Wigoder[105] Anthony Crosland[105]
1946-47 Ronald Brown[105] Roger Gray[105]
 Anthony Wedgwood Benn[105]
1947–48 Peter Kroyer[105] Clive Wigram[105] Edward Boyle[105]
1948–49 Seymour Hills[105] Peter Kirk[105] Rodney Donald[105]
1949–50 Dick Faber[105] Uwe Kitzinger[105] Robin Day[105]

1950–1975

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Year Michaelmas Hilary Trinity
1950–51 Godfrey Smith[105] Jeremy Thorpe[105] William Rees-Mogg[105]
1951–52 Ivan Yates[105] Peter Blaker[105] Howard Shuman[105]
1952–53 Patrick Mayhew[105] Bryan Magee[105] John Peters[105]
1953–54 Andrew Cuninghame[105] Tyrell Burgess[105] Raghavan N. Iyer[105]
1954–55 Michael Heseltine[105] Jeremy Isaacs[105] Anthony Howard[105]
1955–56 Desmond Watkins[105] Alec Grant[105] Roy Dixon[105]
1956–57 Edmund Ions[105] Jeremy Lever[105] Peter Brooke[105]
1957–58 Brian Walden[105] Lalith Athulathmudali[105] Stuart Griffiths[105]
1958–59 Ron Owen Lakshman Kadirgamar[105] Anthony Newton[105]
1959–60 Joe Trattner[105] Ian Lyon[105] Peter Jay[105]
1960–61 Robert Rowland[105] Phillip Whitehead[105] Paul Foot[105]
1961–62 Howard Preece[105] Hugh Stephenson[105] John McDonnell[105]
1962–63 Michael Beloff[105] Girish Karnad[105] Jeffrey Jowell[105]
1963–64 Anthony Hart[105] Garth Pratt[105] Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[105]
1964–65 Eric Abrahams[105][111] Neil MacCormick[105] Tariq Ali[105]
1965–66 Douglas Hogg[105] Joshua Bamfield[105] Jeremy Beloff[105]
1966–67 Montek Singh Ahluwalia[105] Ronald Cohen[105] Stephen Marks[105]
1967–68 Robert Jackson[105] Geraldine Jones[105] William Waldegrave[105]
1968–69 Ian Glick[105] David Walter[105] Colin Youlden[105]
1969–70 Gyles Brandreth[105] Guy Harkin[105] Stephen Milligan[105]
1970–71 Eric Parsloe[105] Michael House[105] Susan Richards[105]
1971–72 Christopher Tookey[105] Julian Priestley[n 1][105]
Pradeep Mitra[105] 		Patric Dickinson[105]
1972–73 Philip McDonagh[105] Michael Austerberry[112] Colin Maltby[105]
1973–74 David Warren[105] Simon Walker[105] Michael Soole[105]
1974–75 Robert McDonagh[105] Robert Scoble[105] Victor van Amerongen[105]

1975–2000

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Year Michaelmas Hilary Trinity
1975–76 David Soskin[105] Andrew Bell[105] Colin Moynihan[105]
1976–77 Richard Norton[105] Benazir Bhutto[105] Victoria Schofield[105]
1977–78 Damian Green[105] Nicholas O'Shaughnessy[105] John Harrison[105]
1978–79 Daniel Moylan[105] Alan Duncan[105] Philip May[105]
1979–80 Michael Crick[105] Warwick Lightfoot[105] Nicholas Prettejohn[105]
1980–81 Rupert Soames[105] Andrew Sutcliffe[105] Alexandra Jones[105]
1981–82 William Hague Kevin Brennan[105] Paul Thompson[105]
1982–83 Christopher Wortley[105] Hilali Noordeen[105] Andrew Sullivan[105]
1983–84 Neale Stevenson[105] Malcolm Bull[105] Melvyn Stride[105]
1984–85 Laurence Grafstein[105] Roland Rudd[105] Neil Sherlock[105]
1985–86 Anthony Goodman[105] Jeya Wilson[105] Boris Johnson[105]
1986–87 Angus McCullough[105] Simon Stevens[105][113] Jessica Pulay[105]
1987–88 Anthony Frieze[105] Michael Gove[105] Duncan Gray[105]
1988–89 Andrew McCulloch[105] Adam Bruce[105] Stefan Green[105]
1989–90 Diana Gerald[105] Ed Lazarus[105] Jeremy Quin[105]
1990–91 Melanie Johnson[105] Oliver Campbell KC[105][114] Damian Hinds[105]
1991–92 Nicholas Edgar[105] Graeme Halkerston Adrian Gannon
1992–93 Christopher Hall James Robertson Katherine Wade
1993–94 Toby Lewis Kate Wilson Peter Gowers
1994–95 Jeremy Green Robert Palmer David Pinto-Duschinsky
1995–96 Matt Guy Jonathan Wolf Paul Kenward
1996–97 Jenny Carter-Manning Rob Harrington