CUCA was founded in the early twentieth century[1], and many famous people were involved with CUCA when they were undergraduates at the University. Former Chairmen of CUCA include: Geoffrey Howe (Lent 1951), now Lord Howe, and Douglas Hurd (Michaelmas 1951), now Lord Hurd, both of whom who went onto become Foreign Secretary; Kenneth Clarke (Michaelmas 1961) and Norman Lamont (Easter 1963), now Lord Lamont, both of whom went onto become Chancellor of the Exchequer.

To date 22 former Chairmen of CUCA since Lent 1950 have become MPs many of whom went on to serve as Cabinet Ministers in the Thatcher and Major Governments. From Michaelmas 1959 until Lent 1962 eight Chairmen of CUCA in a row were subsequently elected to Parliament. Michael Howard, below second along from the right, who went onto become Home Secretary under the Major Government and then became leader of the Conservative Party, was also a member of CUCA during the early 1960s. He never became Chairman of the Association as he resigned in 1961 in protest at Kenneth Clarke’s decision to invite Oswald Mosley to address CUCA. Four chairman from the 1970s have also since become MPs including Andrew Mitchell (Michaelmas 1977), below third along from the right, who is currently a member of the Shadow Cabinet.

The latest former chairman to become an MP is Greg Hands (Lent 1988), on the left above, who was elected to Parliament in the 2005 General Election along with another former Chairman from the 1980s, Graham Stuart (Easter 1985), shown on the right above. Not all former Chairmen of the Association who have become MPs have become Conservative MPs - Tam Dalyell (Michaelmas 1954), joined the Labour party shortly after leaving Cambridge and served as a Labour MP from 1962 until 2005! A complete list of former chairmen from Lent 1950 can be found in the ‘Former Chairmen’ section of this website.

Alexander R. Langley
(Ex-Officio Chairman, Lent 2006)
August 2006, updated August 2007

[1] This used to say ‘late nineteenth century’ but my latest research indicates that this was too early. I am still looking for the exact founding date.