The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1815, it is the oldest continuously running debating society in the world. Additionally, the Cambridge Union has served as a model for the foundation of similar societies at several other prominent universities, including the Oxford Union and the Yale Political Union. The Union is a private society with membership open to all students of Cambridge University, and more recently Anglia Ruskin University. The Cambridge Union is a registered charity and is completely separate from the Cambridge University Students' Union.
The Cambridge Union has a long and extensive tradition of hosting prominent figures from all areas of public life in its chamber, both state- and international-based, including the Dalai Lama, President Ronald Reagan, Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking, Prime Ministers Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and John Major, presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, and comedian Stephen Fry. Previous presidents of the Cambridge Union have included Arianna Huffington, and the economist John Maynard Keynes.
