The Bicentenary Debate marked the 200th anniversary of the world's oldest continuously running debating society, and alumni were invited back to watch and partake in the motion ‘This House isn’t What It Used to Be’. 

Speakers included Lord Michael Howard, the former leader of the Conservative Party and Ken Clarke MP, a leading Conservative politician who served as the coalition’s Minister without portfolio and has previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Lord Chancellor.

The chamber welcomed Lord Turner – graduate of Gonville and Caius, British businessman, academic and former chairman of the Financial Services Authority – and of Fitzwilliam College, Sir Peter Bazalgette, chairman of the Arts Council England.

Both graduates of Newnham College, former Lord Speaker Baroness Hayman joined the first female president of the Union, Baroness Mallalieu, at the dispatch box.

Just after 8 o'clock, the seats filled with alumni and speakers while the current president of the Union, Amy Gregg, welcomed former presidents and members of the society, while current students were confined to the gallery.

Lord Howard (an alumnus of Peterhouse) opened in proposition. He spoke of the great anniversaries of 2015 including the 800 years of the Magna Carta and 50 years since the death of Churchill and yet said that these will all “pale into insignificance” when compared to the Union’s milestone. In conclusion, the President for Easter 1962 suggested the Union is “not what it used to be”, and it is “all the better for it”.

Opening for the opposition was former president Gareth Weetman. Approaching the motion light-heartedly, Weetman called the debate a “security risk” and quipped that “if something happened, all the Westminster bars will be out of business”.

Baroness Mallalieu, nearly fifty years since becoming the first female president of the Union, suggested there was “no better party going on anywhere else” as she presented the proposition's second argument. She summed up by suggesting that her time as President in the 1960s saw the Union “challenge the establishment and traditional ways of doing things”, something she felt was no longer a prominent feature in the society.

Deviating from ordinary proceedings, the floor was opened to ex-officers of the House. One of the first was Richard Parker of Trinity College, a regular attendee of Union debates noted for his beard and frequent contributions. He proposed the chamber is “not better, not worse – it’s different”. Tim Squirrel, a recent President of the Society, also spoke, addressing the stereotype of members being the “most arrogant people in Cambridge”. One alumna took the opportunity to quiz the Rt. Hon. Ken Clarke on his refusal to accept women in 1963, to which he responded during his eight minutes.

Proceedings continued with Michael Dunn Goekjian, President for Easter 2014, who suggested that with the new language centre in the basement and the plans for a new bar, the Union was not what it used to be, but, along the same line as his fellow debaters, has changed for the better. His speech was made without notes after he ripped them up as he stood at the dispatch box.

Lord Turner, Michaelmas President 1977, emphasised that “things must change in order to stay the same”.

Ken Clarke, having being confronted about his failure to admit women to the society, retorted by suggesting he already had a girlfriend and therefore women didn’t need to be accepted. He also shared an anecdote from his time as President when an emergency debate was held in response to the Cuban missile crisis. When he enquired as to why an early debate was needed he received the response “the world will come to an end Thursday, and so the Union must pass a motion [on the subject] immediately”.

The final word was had by Sir Peter Bazalgette, President from Michaelmas 1975, who promised to maintain the tradition of the House by addressing “with cheap jokes”. Referring to the speech which Michael Dunn Goekjian had ripped up, he remarked, “I preferred that one”, prompting another round of laughter from the chamber.

Reaction to the Bicentenary Debate, however, has not been wholly positive. Rose Lander, a second-year member of the debating society, said: “I think these kind of debates contribute to a wider misrepresentation of Cambridge as an elitist and backward institution. This was a self-congratulatory motion being debated by mainly old men in black tie who were involved in a Union that didn’t even admit women.”

Later, speaking to Varsity, Michael Howard suggested that the Union is like a training ground for those entering public office: “the Union helped train me to be a barrister and being a barrister helped train me to be a member of parliament”, and pointed out that there are similarities between both “here and the House of Commons”.

The Bicentenary celebrations continue with a Ball this term, followed by a garden party in June and an anniversary debate in London, the society’s first outside Cambridge.