The Cambridge Union has revealed its line-up for Michaelmas 2014 this week.

The list of speakers balances those from the entertainment and sport industries, such as the Irish comedian Ed Byrne, the current manager of the England football team Roy Hodgson, cast members of the reality TV show Geordie Shore, with those from academic backgrounds, such as the scientist and theoretician Aubrey de Grey and the economist Peter Nolan.

Topics for this term’s ten debates also span a wide range of themes. Union members can look forward to discussions on national and international politics in debates on whether UKIP has been a force for good in British politics and whether Russia is a force for global instability.

Furthermore, the Union seems to be addressing accusations of sexism made against it by the CUSU Women’s Campaign since Lent 2014, when the only female speaker was the ballerina Darcey Bussell.

Whilst the Lent and Easter term cards only contained one and two female speakers respectively, the figure has now risen to six in this term’s line-up, accounting for roughly 30 per cent of all invited speakers. The women’s public speaking workshops from last year will also return for Michaelmas 2014, along with a new ‘Women in Science’ forum and a gender-based forum.

This year also revives the comedy debate between the Cambridge Footlights and the Oxford Revue on the uses and abuses of Tinder.