Draft:University of Warwick Conservative Association

• Comment: Most of the refs are self-refs. Of those that are independent, they're fluff stories about events the society has been involved in. There is no independent article focussing on the society. You are light years away from demonstrating notability. If that was your best shot, I think you need to face it that this article is not happening. Tagishsimon (talk) 20:37, 22 December 2023 (UTC)

---

University of Warwick Conservative Association

Abbreviation	UWCA
Nickname	Warwick Tories
Formation	1965
Founded at	University of Warwick
Chairman	Hugh Herring
Honorary President	Andrea Leadsom MP
Website	https://www.warwickconservatives.co.uk/

University of Warwick Conservative Association, often referred to as the UWCA, is a university conservative association based at the University of Warwick. Since its founding in 1965, the association has aimed to provide a place for centre-right students to meet and socialise, as well as to promote conservatism on the University of Warwick campus and in the broader community.

The UWCA is the most active university conservative association in the United Kingdom. It provides a range of activities, including port and policy debates, social events, guest speaker events, twice-weekly campaign sessions, trips, and dinners.

Despite close links to the Conservative & Unionist Party, the UWCA is not officially affiliated with the party, nor with its youth branch, the Young Conservatives. The only organisation with which the UWCA holds a formal affiliation is the University of Warwick Students' Union and is otherwise entirely independent.

History

Founded in 1965, the UWCA was one of the first official societies to be established at the University of Warwick. The Association has evolved over the last fifty-nine years but has always had a presence as a voice of conservatism at the University of Warwick.

The first guest speaker hosted by the UWCA was Sir John Hobson, MP for Warwick & Leamington and Former Attorney-General under the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments. Hobson spoke on the rapid change seen across the 20th Century and the contemporary Rhodesian Bush War.

In 2017, David Davis, the then-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, was dismissed from his position as Honorary President of the UWCA. The Association's Internal Affairs Secretary at the time, Rhal Ssan, announced the move despite official proceedings not yet having taken place. The explanation was given that Davis had been "so unworkable" by not replying to communications from the Association. Davis was subsequently replaced in the role by Kevin Foster MP.

When the United Kingdom officially withdrew from the European Union on 31st January 2020, the UWCA hosted a stand celebrating the event on the University's Central Campus. The stand was featured on the BBC News at Six including interview with UWCA members. The date coincided with that year's 'Warwick Economics Summit' and during the course of the day there was an encounter between Members of the European Parliament attending the summit and UWCA members on the stand. One MEP was alleged as having called the members of the stand "idiots" to which it is claimed a member responded "at least I'll still have a job tomorrow".

In the Warwick Students' Union Spring Elections of 2021, former Chairman of the University of Warwick Conservative Association, Jacob Jefferson, was elected to the position of Democracy & Development Officer. This made the Warwick Students' Union one of the few in the country to have an open conservative in one of its prominent full time officer positions. In 2022, Jefferson was succeeded by the UWCA's former Deputy Chairman Membership, Jack Sperry.

In 2022, Nadhim Zahawi, the Secretary of State for Education at the time, was hosted by the UWCA to speak to members of the University of Warwick student body. The invitation was condemned by a number of left-wing groups at the university due to Zahawi's past comments in defence of Kathleen Stock, a philosophy professor at the University of Surrey who had questioned the idea that gender identity was more socially important than biological sex. The event took place on 27th May and saw protestors attempt to disrupt the event by generating noise sufficient to drown out Zahawi's talk. During his talk, Zahawi emphasised the importance of showing "kindness, tolerance and love when discussing these issues". Following the end of the event, one member of the association was struck on the head but unhurt whilst the Education Secretary was quickly ushered away by campus security.

In 2023, the association took a leading role in the campaign for the Warwick Students' Union to disaffiliate from the National Union of Students. This was following a report which concluded that the NUS had failed to act sufficiently over allegations of anti-semitism and islamophobia. Members of the students' union would vote to disaffiliate from the NUS, though this would be overturned later in the year by a second vote on the topic.

Kevin Foster MP was removed as the Honorary Chairman of the association in 2023 and replaced by Dame Andrea Leadsom.

Executive Committee

The executive committee of the UWCA is the body which oversees and manages the actions of the association. It is formally referred to as the 1965 Committee, a reference to the founding year of the association. The committee has included a number of different roles at different times, past roles have included the welfare officer, the women's officer, and the communications secretary. The committee is elected annually at an Annual General Meeting with voting opened to all members of the association. If a position becomes vacant due to a resignation or impeachment, an Extraordinary General Meeting may be called to elect a replacement.

Position	Office Holder	Office Function
Chairman	Hugh Herring	Lead the association and coordinate activity of broader committee
Deputy Chairman Political	Tom Chaloner	Organise and lead external campaign sessions
Deputy Chairman Membership	Nathan Cox	Grow and retain membership, manage association communications, provide welfare support, engage with alumni
Treasurer	Caleb Heather	Manage association finances, create association advertisements and merchandise
Events Secretaries	Will de Save and Mal Hammond	Organise and host events
Social Secretaries	Jack Ahern and Cory North	Organise and host social activities
Internal Affairs Officer	Lewis Wakeford	Manage relations with external actors within the University of Warwick
Tour & Conference Secretary	Ben Jackson	Organise and host domestic trips, international trips, and attendance at the annual Conservative Party Conference.

Activities

The University of Warwick Conservative Association is the most active university conservative association in the United Kingdom. The UWCA is the most followed university conservative association on Instagram.

One of the most popular activities hosted by the association are the Port & Policy debates. This is a form of debate held by many university conservative associations featuring a debate on three topics with port, along with other refreshments and snacks, provided for the attendees. The UWCA also often hosts events with guest speakers where the guest will give a talk, followed by an opportunity for members to ask questions and have them answered by the guests. Past guests have included Members of Parliament, such as Steve Baker MP, campaign strategists, such as Mark Fullbrook, and policy analysts, such as Sebastian Payne.

The UWCA is very proud of the social function of the association in providing a space for conservative students to socialise. Social events can include quizzes, bar crawls, bowling nights, football, and circles (a social event common at the University of Warwick featuring drinking games). Every year the UWCA hosts a 'Hagueathon', an activity hosted by many university conservative associations based upon former Conservative Party Leader, William Hague's, claim in 2000 that at university he drank fourteen pints of beer a day. The UWCA also annually hosts the 'Eden Project' bar crawl, featuring a night in Warwick which is named after former Warwick & Leamington MP and Prime Minister, Anthony Eden. The UWCA also occasionally hosts 'Tory Tandoori' evenings, common among Conservative Associations.

Another significant activity of the UWCA is its twice-weekly campaign sessions. These are held every Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning during term time. These campaigns are nearly always held in association with Conservative Party Constituency Associations. The UWCA frequently campaigns with the Warwick & Leamington Conservative Association, the Kenilworth & Southam Conservative Association, and the Nuneaton & Bedworth Conservative Association, among others.

The UWCA hosts an annual international tour as well as an annual domestic tour. These tours resumed in 2023 after a hiatus partly due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. The UWCA coordinates its members attendance at the Conservative Party Conference which is held every year.

The association also organises and hosts dinners including a Christmas Dinner, as well as its annual Chairman's Dinner.

In 2023, the UWCA began actively sponsoring charity work, raising money at its Chairman's Dinner for Help for Heroes and for Children with Cancer UK at its Christmas Dinner.

Alumni

Alumni of the University of Warwick Conservative Association are entitled to become part of the association's alumni network known as the '1965 Club'.

Prominent alumni of the UWCA include:

• David Davis, MP Haltemprice and Howden and Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (2016 - 2018)
• Dame Andrea Leadsom, MP for South Northamptonshire and Leader of the House of Commons (2017 - 2019)
• Carrie Johnson, Head of Conservative Party Communications (2018) and wife of Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson
• Mark Fullbrook, CEO of Fullbrook Strategies and Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Liz Truss (2022)
• Kevin Foster, MP for Torbay