Oxford University Conservative Association: famous alumni

William Hague, Foreign Secretary, who is association's current Honorary President

William Hague is currently the association's Honorary President (Picture: PA)

Guy Hands, former Goldman Sachs trader, chairman of Terra Firma and a close friend of William Hague

Guy Hands (Picture: REUTERS)

Dominic Grieve, Attorney General

Jeremy Hunt, Culture Secretary

Jonathan Aitken, former Conservative MP jailed for perjury

Members:

Theresa May, the Home Secretary

Theresa May, the Home Secretary (Picture: AFP)

Ed Balls, Shadow Chancellor,

John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons

Sally Bercow was a member during her days at Oxford (Picture: AMELIA TROUTBRIDGE/ EVENING STANDARD)

Sally Bercow, the speaker's wife

Nick Robinson, BBC's political editor

Nick Robinson, the BBC's Political Editor, outside No 10 Downing St. (Picture: REX FEATURES)

Lord Rees-Mogg, former editor of The Times

Ed Vaizey, Culture minister

Courtney Love, the rock star made a non-executive officer for "rock 'n' roll" earlier this year

Courtney Love, pictured with Kate Moss in 2007 (Picture: REX FEATURES)

Earl of Dartmouth

Sir George Young, the Leader of the House

Andy Street, the managing director of John Lewis

Andy Street, the boss of John Lewis, was a member of the Association (Picture: PAUL GROVER)

Oxford University Conservative Association: UK's leading student politics body

John Bercow, the speaker, met his wife Sally through the association.?Photo: PA

The Oxford University Conservative Association is considered one of the leading student organisations for young members of the Tory party in Britain.

With two prime ministers, 13 cabinet ministers and three leaders of the Conservative Party among its high-profile alumni, it has become a conveyor belt for future leaders since it was founded in 1924.

The student body, whose patron is Baroness Thatcher, a former president, is considered one of the oldest, and biggest, youth political organisations in the country, with more than 650 members.

OUCA, whose honorary president is William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, uses its website to promote a public image of studious debate, with recent guest speakers including Sir John Major and Iain Duncan Smith.

It is the biggest single organisation within Conservative Future, the body for young Tories, which is run from the party’s London headquarters.

Among its famous members include John Bercow, the speak of the House of Commons and his wife Sally, Nick Robinson, the BBC’s Political Editor and Theresa May, the Home Secretary and Andy Street, the managing director of John Lewis.

Founded amid a rising of the Labour party, according to its history, the first recruitment notice declared its purpose was “to strengthen the Conservative cause among undergraduates and to ground that cause on its broadest foundations”.

“Today the Association continues to provide a Conservative voice within the University and communicate the ideas of its members to the Party,” its website adds.

But OUCA has been embroiled in controversy and faced repeated accusations of racism and sexism in the past that that has forced the Conservative party to distance itself from it.

In 2000, four members were expelled for making Nazi-style salutes, and in 2009 Oxford University temporarily banned OUCA from using “Oxford University” in its name after two candidates made racist jokes at a hustings meeting.

Last year it became embroiled in a sexism row amid claims a female speaker was told to “go back to washing the dishes”.

Both Oxford University and the Conservative Party said that racism had “no place” within their organisations.