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The Oxford Union has a rich history and a long tradition of bringing together world leaders, thinkers and influencers across politics, religion, science, business and the arts.
Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, HH the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking are just some of the famous figures that we have had the honour of hosting.
The Oxford Union is committed to ensuring that all members find our events as accessible as possible. If you need any adjustments to access our events, please contact ccc@oxford-union.org who can help you to reserve space for a wheelchair, reserve a space for guide dogs, or make any other necessary arrangements. We have a hearing aid loop in place which is accessed by switching to 'T'.
The Union invites speakers from around the world and across the political spectrum, and always provides members the opportunity to challenge the speaker during events. We have been part of some of the biggest and most important discussions to shape world history. It was at the Oxford Union that Gerry Adams proposed the reunification of Ireland while still banned from appearing on television, Colonel Gaddafi argued for a new African Union via a live video stream to the Chamber, and in December 1964 Malcolm X delivered his infamous speech on extremism from the Chamber.
Each term's committee works tirelessly to curate a programme of speaker meetings where our members have the unique opportunity to challenge, question and interact with a broad range of speakers - some inspiring, others controversial. Often these talks are followed by book signings and an opportunity to meet the speaker. For details of this term's speaker events, please view our events page.
You can find out more about some of our past speakers below, and visit our YouTube channel to watch some of our past events.
The Union has welcomed Britain’s most influential leaders, from David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill to Theresa May, alongside Presidents Nixon, Carter, Reagan and Clinton. In 1978, President Nixon faced questions on the Watergate scandal before a packed Chamber.
The Union has hosted leading figures from across sport, including football commentator Robbie Lyle, footballers Diego Maradona and Sir Geoff Hurst, Rugby World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio, cricketer Brian Lara, boxers Anthony Joshua and George Foreman, Formula One champion Nico Rosberg, and Olympians Tom Daley, Sir Steve Redgrave and Dame Katherine Grainger.
The Union has hosted the people behind the technologies and companies that shape modern life, among them Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky and former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt.
Oxford has long been a home for enterprise, and the Union’s speakers reflect that tradition. Members have heard from Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman and LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, and from entrepreneurs familiar to British audiences through Dragons’ Den and The Apprentice, including Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, Theo Paphitis and Lord Sugar.
In 2001, Michael Jackson chose the Union for his first public speech in over a decade, and Sir Elton John, Shakira and Mark Ronson have since addressed the Chamber. Many guests perform as well as speak: Billy Joel, Hozier, Nicola Benedetti, Snow Patrol and Jacob Collier have all given members an intimate concert.
Since Albert Einstein’s visit in 1933, the Union has heard from scientists who have changed how we understand the universe and our place in it, among them Professor Stephen Hawking, Professor Richard Dawkins and Professor Dame Jocelyn Burnell. Buzz Aldrin, the second person to walk on the Moon, has also spoken in the Chamber.
Writers have always found an attentive audience in the Chamber. Stephen Fry, Salman Rushdie and Philip Pullman have all addressed members, and recently George R. R. Martin spoke to a full house about his beginnings as a writer. The Union has also welcomed leading journalists, among them Sir Michael Parkinson, Clarissa Ward and Jon Snow.
Film and theatre have long been well represented in the Chamber. Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman, Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, Emma Watson, Natalie Portman and Martin Scorsese have all addressed members.
The Union was founded to allow the free discussion of religion, and it continues to uphold that principle. It has hosted Mother Teresa, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Angaelos, and Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, and faith, its place in public life and its relationship with politics remain recurring subjects of debate.
