MICHAELMAS 2011

OXFORD UNIVERSITY CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION Patron: The Rt Hon. Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, LG, OM, PC, FRS

Hon. President: The Rt Hon. William Hague, MP

OUCA is the leading political society in Oxford, supporting the Conservative cause across its

broadest foundations. Prime Ministers, Cabinet members and other leading figures visit

regularly. Our Sunday „Port & Policy‟ is the week's highlight, and we host legendary social

events and dinners, along with serious debates, training and campaigning.

We‟ve had a wonderful start to the year with over 500 new members joining at the Freshers‟

Fair alone, an excellent reception with Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary at the Carlton Club,

and the Freshers‟ Party. I look forward to building upon this success over the term, and

hope that this term card has much of interest to offer all our new members, as well as our

more seasoned OUCA supporters. We‟re very lucky to be hearing from some very

prominent speakers, and to have one of the greatest Chancellors, Lord Lawson of Blaby, as

our guest of honour and speaker at the Termly Dinner.

Organising all of this has been very time consuming and could not have been done without

the help of OUCA‟s officers and committee. I‟m extremely grateful for their support, and

confident that OUCA will continue to go from strength to strength with their guidance.

I hope to see many of you soon!

Kindest regards,

James

James Lawson

President

St Edmund Hall

M IC HA E LMA S 2011

SPEAKERS Douglas Carswell MP

Tuesday, 25th October, 7PM, Oxford Union

Douglas Carswell is a leading advocate for increased

transparency in Parliament and led the first successful

campaign to eject a speaker of the House of Commons in

300 years. For his efforts, he was named Spectator‟s

Parliamentarian of the Year. He is well known for his independent mind and was also the only

Conservative MP returned at the 2010 general election to have openly advocated proportional

representation. He has led the „localist‟ agenda with Daniel Hannan, having co-authored „The

Plan: Twelve months to Renew Britain‟.

Stuart Wheeler

Tuesday, 1st November, 8PM, Oxford Union

Stuart was a successful entrepreneur, making a fortune as

founder of the spread betting firm, IG Index. In 2001, he

gained political fame, after giving the largest single donation

ever made in UK politics to the Conservatives. He is very

critical of the European Union, and has now become the Treasurer of UKIP (having been

removed from the Conservatives). At the 2010 election he formed and stood for the Trust Party,

advocating a parliamentary court with the power to jail MPs who commit fraud, ending MPs'

second-home allowances, 'exposure of false claims' about global warming, promoting marriage,

improving treatment of wounded soldiers, reducing the power of the EU and preventing torture

of suspected terrorists. In his personal life, Stuart is an avid gambler, taking a keen interest in

card and risk games and having played bridge with Lord Lucan two days before his

disappearance, and with Omar Sharif, as well as entering the World Poker Championships.

Steve Baker MP

Friday, 11th November, 8PM, Oxford Union

Steve was elected for Wycombe in 2010. He is a founding member of the

Cobden Centre, a charity that promotes the return of „sound‟ money‟,

and argues that 'peace will come to earth when the people have more to

do with each other and governments less‟. He was nominated as

„Newcomer of the Year‟ on ConservativeHome, and is rated as one of

most rebellious MPs of the new intake.

M IC HA E LMA S 2011

David Davis MP

Wednesday, 17th November, 8PM, Oxford Union

David Davis was a Minister of State at the Foreign Office

from July 1994 to April 1997. Between 2003 and 2008 he

was the Shadow Home Secretary in the shadow cabinet. He

ran for the leadership in 2005, coming second to David

Cameron. On 12th June 2008, in a surprise move, David announced his reisignation as an MP,

provoking a public debate about the erosion of civil liberties, prior to being re-elected in the

resulting by-election. He has since refused to take a cabinet role, though he is a favourite to do

so.

Oliver Letwin MP

Tuesday, 22nd November, Oxford Union (Time TBC)

Oliver Letwin is currently the Minister of State at the Cabinet Office and

Chairman of the Conservative Research Department. In the cabinet, he

helps craft Conservative Party policy, and he was described as the

“Gandalf” of the party‟s development before the election.

Jonathan Isaby

Wednesday, 23rd November, 8PM, Oxford Union

Jonathan Isaby is the Political Director of the TaxPayers‟ Alliance. Before

taking on this role, he worked for the Daily Telegraph, before moving to the

blogosphere as co-editor of ConservativeHome.com. He published „Boris v

Ken: How Boris Won London‟ in 2008.

Graham Brady MP

TBC

Graham Brady MP served as a shadow minister for Europe under

four Conservative leaders before resigning in 2007 in protest at

David Cameron's opposition to grammar schools. He succeeded Sir

Michael Spicer as chairman of the 1922 Committee on 26 May

2010. He was voted "Backbencher of the Year" by The Spectator at

their annual parliamentary awards.

M IC HA E LMA S 2011

TERMLY DINNER Lord Lawson of Blaby

Monday, 28th November, St Edmund Hall, from 7PM

We are very lucky to be able to host Lord

Lawson at our termly dinner this term. Nigel

Lawson served as Secretary of State for Energy

before becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer

in Thatcher‟s government from June 1983 to

October 1992. He was associated with tax cuts,

taking basic rate income tax down to 25% and

top rate to 40%. His tenure as Chancellor was

longer than any other since David Lloyd

George. Since retiring from politics, he has

remained a keen commentator on economics

and global warming. Most recently, he wrote, „An appeal to reason: a cool look at global

warming‟.

Tickets are available from Nina Fischer at £50 for OUCA members. Please

post cash or cheques (written to Oxford University Conservative

Association) to her at Corpus, or purchase a ticket online at

http://lordlawson.eventbrite.com. Please let Nina know if you have any

dietary requirements.

BLUEPRINT OUCA is a leading contributor to debate. Every term we publish a

policy document. We are looking for concise contributions

between 300 and 1000 words.

If you are interested in writing an article this term,

please get in touch with our Publications Editor at

jonathan.smith@lmh.ox.ac.uk

M IC HA E LMA S 2011

CAMPAIGNING &

TRAINING OUCA is a campaigning force, holding regular

events in cooperation with the local associations. We

will also be hosting a workshop, to help members

further develop their communication and campaign

skills. Our main campaigns will be on the Saturdays

of 3rd and 5th Week. We will be supporting the Back

Boris 2012 campaign over the year.

PORT & POLICY

Every Sunday, 8.30PM, Oxford Union.

Port & Policy is one of the highlights of the Oxford week. It is every Sunday in the Macmillan

Room, offering a continuous flow of drinks, and an excellent environment to chat with friends

and debate the issues of the day. We tend to cover three motions per evening. The first motions

will be as follows:

16th October: This house believes we shouldn't get into bed with Liberal

Democrats.

23rd October: This house believes in fully open borders.

30th October: This house would vote Republican 2012.

6th November: This house would hang child killers.

13th November: This house would vote UKIP in the European Elections.

20th November: This house would privatise the BBC and stop public

funding of the arts.

27th November: This house would do whatever necessary for popularity.

M IC HA E LMA S 2011

SOCIAL EVENTS OUCA has a vibrant social scene throughout the year, with regular events for members.

Highlights this term include our pub-crawl (12th October, starting at 8PM at the King’s Arms) and our

Free Cava, Cakes and Cheese Party (19th October, 8PM, Oxford Union), sponsored by the Adam

Smith Institute (with their President, Madsen Pirie, as speaker). We‟ll be descending on London

for the Conservative Future Autumn Reception with Iain Duncan Smith (26th November,

6.30PM, St Stephen‟s Club, London). We are also working to organise a crew date with our

political rivals, and much more.

If you have any questions about upcoming events, or innovative ideas,

please contact our Social Secretary, Nina Fischer, at

nina.fischer@ccc.ox.ac.uk.

COUNCIL & OFFICERS Council is the governing body of the Association. All members interested have the right to

attend meetings. „Officers‟ is responsible for the general management of the Association, and will

follow immediately after Council this term.

Councils and „Officers‟ this term will be held at St Edmund Hall as follows:

Friday, 21ST October, 11AM, Besse I.1

Friday, 28th October, 11AM, Besse I.1

Saturday, 5th November, 10.30AM, Emden

Room 1

Saturday, 12th November, 1PM, Besse I.1

Friday, 18th November, 11AM Besse I.1

Termly General Meeting, Saturday, 26th

November, 10AM, Besse I.1

Sunday, 27th November, 1PM, Besse I.1

M IC HA E LMA S 2011

ELECTIONS OUCA holds termly elections for all positions. We encourage members to get involved actively

in the running of the Association. This process can also be good training for future life in

business or the Party, with many transferable skills. Past Presidents of OUCA include Margaret

Thatcher, Edward Heath, Jeremy Hunt, William Hague, Dominic Grieve, Lord Rees-Mogg,

Daniel Hannan and Nick Robinson.

For further information about elections, please contact the Returning

Officer, or the President, at james.lawson@seh.ox.ac.uk. Important details

will be sent to the mailing list in line with the constitution.

THATCHER CLUB The Thatcher Club is the new and exciting

London-based alumni group for OUCA.

Named after OUCA‟s patron and most

prestigious ex-President, The Rt Hon The

Baroness Thatcher LG OM PC FRS, it

serves as a home-from-home for Oxford

Conservatives in the City.

Although The Thatcher Club is

predominantly a group for graduates,

undergraduates are encouraged to attend the

club‟s meetings, which will include speaker events, drinks, and dinners in various locations within

London. So, if you need your OUCA fix during the vacation, this is the place to be.

THE CONINGSBY CLUB Founded in 1921 to keep Oxford and Cambridge graduates involved in politics, the Coningsby

Club is one of the longest established Conservative discussion and dining groups. For more

information, contact their President, Alexandra Jezeph at alexandra.jezeph@mansfield.oxon.org

M IC HA E LMA S 2011

COMMITTEE Senior Officers

President, James Lawson, St Edmund Hall

President-elect, Miles Coates, Worcester

Treasurer, Nikhil Mukerjee, Christ Church

Treasurer Elect, James Price, Worcester

Secretary, Jim Everett, Corpus Christi

Political Officer, Matthew Ryder, Corpus Christi

Junior Officers

Social Secretary, Nina Fischer, Corpus Christi

Whip, Adam Wozniak, St Edmund Hall

Publications, Jonathan Smith, Lady Margaret Hall

Communications, Ameer Kotecha, St Peter’s

Returning Officer, James Gillespi, Corpus Christi

Committee

Kapish Narda, Harris Manchester

Sam Robberts, Corpus Christi

Oliver Johnson, Exeter

Henry Watson, Magdalen

Krishan Nadesan, Christ Church

Jonathan Tomlin, Lady Margaret Hall

Ex-Officio:

Ex-President, Joe Cooke, Oriel

Ex-Treasurer, Peter Day-Milne, Trinity

Ex-Junior Officers:

Jacob Ward, Christ Church

Tristan Honeybourne, Magdalen

Joey Faulkner, Wadham

Alex Reut-Hobbs, New

James Hackney, St John’s

Ben Lewy, St John’s

George Mahwinney, Oriel

Michael Towers, Christ Church

Ex-Returning Officer, Katherine Sidders, Trinity

M IC HA E LMA S 2011

BE SEEING YOU!

OUCA