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).
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]
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]
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]
^John Pearson (1806/7 fl. 1828), previously educated at
Eton College, later became a barrister after graduating from
Lincoln's Inn[15][16]
^Edward Massie (1805/6 – fl. 1845) was later a chaplain.[19]
^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.
^The first president of
East Asian descent, he is the CEO of Byline, a crowdfunded journalism platform.[121]
^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]
^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]
^Leo Buckley was initially declared President-Elect,[145][146] but an election tribunal disqualified him 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]
^Ebrahim Osman-Mowafy was initially elected,[150] but an election tribunal in June 2024 disqualified him and ordered a recount.[149] Osman-Mowafy was subsequently re-instated.[149]
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).
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]
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]
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]
^John Pearson (1806/7 fl. 1828), previously educated at
Eton College, later became a barrister after graduating from
Lincoln's Inn[15][16]
^Edward Massie (1805/6 – fl. 1845) was later a chaplain.[19]
^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.
^The first president of
East Asian descent, he is the CEO of Byline, a crowdfunded journalism platform.[121]
^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]
^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]
^Leo Buckley was initially declared President-Elect,[145][146] but an election tribunal disqualified him 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]
^Ebrahim Osman-Mowafy was initially elected,[150] but an election tribunal in June 2024 disqualified him and ordered a recount.[149] Osman-Mowafy was subsequently re-instated.[149]