Oxford Union: Encyclopedia II - Oxford Union - Governance

Oxford Union - Governance

The society is run by a committee of students, elected every term from the membership. The post of President of the Oxford Union is much sought-after, and is often the starting point for a successful political career.

Oxford Union - Past officers

Famous past presidents include:

• Tariq Ali
• Herbert Henry Asquith
• Tony Benn
• Benazir Bhutto
• Kevin Brennan
• Robin Day
• William Ewart Gladstone
• William Hague
• Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava
• Edward Heath
• Anthony Howard
• Boris Johnson
• Lakshman Kadirgamar
• Henry Edward Cardinal Manning
• Jeremy Thorpe

Other officers of the Union who have achieved political success include Harold Macmillan, Ann Widdecombe and Roy Jenkins.

Oxford Union - Elections

The Union holds elections in the penultimate week of each University term, in order to allow members of the society to choose officers and committee members for the following term. The elections are held to fill the offices of President-elect, Librarian, Treasurer-elect and Secretary, as well as 5 elected positions on the Standing Committee and 9 positions on the Secretary's Committee. The elections use a unique form of Single Transferable Vote, which means that voters can specify preferences between candidates, and that a candidate with fewer first preferences can defeat a higher-ranked candidate, if they have enough second preferences to make up the difference. In theory, candidates for the offices and committees are supposed to run independently, and not to engage in any form of organised or systematic campaigning. In practice, each candidate for the presidency organises a "slate", or electoral pact, consisting of a complete or nearly-complete team of 18 people, cooperating in order to support the presidential candidate, and to get as many of themselves as possible elected to the various officer and committee positions on offer. It is not against the Society's rules to assemble a slate, but the systematic and highly-structured campaigning that slates often engage in can constitute electoral malpractice. The slate system often leads to intense rivalry, not least because of the spirit of competition which results from the opposing teams, and their support for different presidential candidates.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Governance", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki