What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 11pm Wednesday 9am - 11pm Thursday 9am - 11pm Friday 9am - 1am

The Cambridge Union

Name: The Cambridge Union
Address: 9A Bridge Street, Cambridge, CB21UB, GB
Telephone: +441223417144

Home
United Kingdom
Cambridge
The Cambridge Union

The Cambridge Union Defending free debate since 1815: www.cus.org

For membership enquiries: [email protected] But there's more. Open most days until after midnight.

Debates
Hosting world famous weekly debates, we have debating some of the most pressing issues of our long history, discussed by some of the most influential people in the world, and some of the best student speakers in the world, alike. Speakers
In the past few years alone Union members have met Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, the legendary actors Sir Ian McKellen and Bill Nighy, comedians Dara

O'Briain and Russell Brand, and the controversial scientist and author Professor Richard Dawkins. Charitable Work
Not only does the Union provide a service to students in Cambridge, it also has multiple programmes for disadvantaged children across the UK. Through teaching public speaking and debate, the Union’s charitable aim is to promote opportunity through education - and we have ambitious plans to expand our charitable work in the future. Social Entertainment
Throughout the year we run some of the best social events in Cambridge. Our Valentines Ball is hugely popular, and we kick off May Week with the most extravagant Garden Party around. With pilates to pub quizzes, Comedy Smokers to Casino & Cocktails nights, we have something for everyone. There's something on almost every night of the week - Union membership ensures you a packed social calendar. The Orator Bar and Restaurant
Our bar is the only one to cater to the whole university, making it the perfect place to chill with friends, particularly from other colleges. Complete with plasma screens and comfy sofas, plus nightly entertainment and drinks deals. Our café is the perfect place to work or play, offering cheap, fairtrade coffee and food throughout the day in a newly-refurbished, friendly and comfortable setting. Library
Our beautiful and historic library is a great place to study and read away from college, with free Wi-Fi, newspapers, and the largest selection of borrowable fiction books outside of the University Library. Competitive Debating
Our competitive debating teams regularly compete on an international level, and in the past two years have won more competitions than any other university in Britain or Ireland. We run workshops for those interested in improving their skills, as well as for complete beginners, giving our members the chance to learn from highly experienced debaters and compete in national competitions themselves.

05/04/2025

Tickets are on sale now for our Easter Ceilidh, in collaboration with Cambridge University Scottish Society !!

Join us at the Union on Friday 2nd May at 8pm for an unmissable evening of Scottish country dancing!

Link to purchase tickets is in our bio:
Members: £7.50
Non-Members: £8.50

04/04/2025

Are you a member who has some ideas for our weekly Thursday night debates? Follow the link in our bio to have your say in debates for Michaelmas Term 2025!

The form only takes a brief minute, and allows the Committee for Michaelmas to get direct input from you, our members, so that we can put on debates that take your thoughts and interests into account.

In week 8 of Michaelmas there will be a members debate, and the form gives you the chance to vote on the motion you would like to be debated that week.

We look forward to your responses!

25/03/2025

And that’s a wrap for Lent 2025! 📸

18/03/2025

The Union is delighted to announce we will be joined by Dr. Ally Louks this Friday 21st March at 6pm in the Library.

Dr. Ally Louks is a supervisor in English Literature at the University of Cambridge. Her work is situated in the interdisciplinary field of Sensory Studies, but her focus is on smell, culture, and literature. Her PhD thesis, 'Olfactory Ethics: the Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose' went viral online in December 2024, angering misogynists and anti-intellectuals, but since sparking widespread conversation about the intersections between smell, ethics, and identity. Her thesis studies how certain authors of the past century use smell in literature to indicate social hostilities, such as prejudice and exploitation. It also connects this to our real-world understanding of the role of smell in society. She is currently working to turn her PhD thesis into a literary monograph and a trade non-fiction book. The post-doctoral project she is developing, 'Cultures of Olfactory Dysfunction', examines the emotional, cognitive, and ecological implications of smell disorders and the disproportionate impact of olfactory dysfunction on marginalised groups due to anthropogenic pollution. She is invested in bringing academic work within Literary Studies, Sensory Studies, and the Humanities more broadly, to public audiences through social media, broadcasting, and public writing.

15/03/2025

As the F1 season starts for the year, we’re thinking back fondly to our panel event earlier this term: Behind The Wheel: 75 Years of Formula One. Thank you to Christian Horner, Bernie Collins, Ayao Komatsu and James Allison for such a memorable event.

Photo Credits: Nordin Catic

14/03/2025

We are delighted to announce our final debate of term: “This House Believes Modern Conservatism Is Incompatible with Democracy”.

Has global conservatism, influenced by the milleu of far right populists, taken a turn fundamentally incompatible with democracy? Or are the accusations of censorious tendencies and antidemocratic practices from left leaning activists, angry at the popular appeal of their opposition, the greater threat to our democratic experiment?

Speakers:

Proposition

Sammy McDonald is the outgoing president of the Cambridge Union. He is a third year history student, as well as an executive committee member of the Labour Club and Debates Officer for the Cambridge United Nations Association.

Jovan Owusu-Nepaul is a political campaigner, commentator, and founder of ONInsights, a consultancy dedicated to advancing democratic inclusion and championing progressive ideas. He stood as the Labour Party candidate for Clacton in the 2024 General Election, challenging Nigel Farage MP, and holds a Master's degree in History from Selwyn College.

Will Hutton is a columnist for The Observer. He also co-chairs the Purposeful Company, is the president-designate of the Academy of Social Sciences, the chair of the advisory board of the UK National Youth Corps, and was principal of Hertford College, University of Oxford from 2011 to 2020.

Opposition

Leonas Pausch is the outgoing Vice President of the Cambridge Union. He is a third-year History and Politics student at Homerton College as well as the Founder of Homerton Politics Society and former Head of Conferences for the Wilberforce Society.

Lara Brown was the President of the Cambridge Union in Michaelmas 2022.
Since leaving the Union - and having completed her degree in English Literature at Downing College, she has been a Senior Research Fellow at a leading think tank, specialising in identity and culture. She has written for The Critic, The Spectator, and The Telegraph.

Lord Hugo Swire is a Lord Temporal member of the House of Lords. He has previously held several ministerial roles for the Conservative Party, including as Minister of State for Europe and the Americas, and is currently the Deputy Chairman of the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council.

12/03/2025

The Union is excited to announce that we will be joined by the Hon. Geoffrey Ma GBM on Monday 17th March at 6pm in the Library.

Geoffrey Ma is the former Chief Justice in Hong Kong, having retired in January 2021. He joined the Hong Kong Judiciary in 2001 as a judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court, becoming a Justice of Appeal in 2002 and was appointed as the Chief Judge of the High Court in 2003 until his appointment in 2010 as Chief Justice. Prior to the Judiciary, he was in private practice as a barrister in Temple Chambers in Hong Kong (QC 1993, SC 1997). He also practiced in Singapore as an Advocate and Solicitor in David Chong & Co. Subsequent to his retirement from the Hong Kong Judiciary, he now practices as an arbitrator and mediator in Hong Kong (Temple Chambers), Singapore (David Chong Law Corporation) and London (Brick Court Chambers). He is on the SIAC Panel of Arbitrators, HKIAC Panel of Arbitrators and the HKIAC Panel of Mediators. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of Arbitration in Hong Kong: A Practical Guide (1st to 5th editions). He is an Honorary Bencher of Gray’s Inn and of the Middle Temple. He is an Honorary Professor in the University of Hong Kong, Honorary Chair and Professor of the Law School (University of Birmingham) and Honorary Professor in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is a Member of the Advisory Board of the Commercial Law Centre of the University of Oxford. He is also a Patron of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law.

10/03/2025

Full Committee applications are now open! To find out more and how to apply, find the link in bio. Applications will close on Monday 17th March, midnight.

Full Committee is the secondary committee of the Cambridge Union and is the first experience of the logistical side of the Union that many people have, and where all Standing Officers start off at. It's the best low-commitment way of getting involved in the Union beyond just being a member or on a subcommittee and there are a variety of departments available for application. All our departments also have 'Heads' who are responsible for organising who is on duty and running each department through liaising with Standing.

09/03/2025

We’re excited to be joined by Cenk Uygur on Saturday 15th March at 6pm in the Chamber.

Cenk Uygur is the CEO and founder of TYT, host of The Young Turks - the largest online news show in the world - and also co-founded the Justice Democrats. Cenk is also the bestselling author of Justice is Coming, available wherever books and audiobooks are sold.

With a verified global audience of more than 500 million views a month and 30 billion total video views, TYT is the #1 most engaged news and politics network. Uygur launched The Young Turks as a talk show on Sirius Satellite Radio in 2002 and started uploading videos on YouTube in 2005. Since then, The Young Turks has become the longest running daily stream online, as the leading news and politics show for young, progressive viewers.

He's also appeared on ABC News' This Week with George Stephanopoulos, NPR, Al Jazeera, and Fox News. Uygur was the host of The Young Turks on Current TV, which was the most popular show on the channel's two-year run. Prior to Current TV, Uygur was a host of MSNBC Live. Uygur graduated from the Wharton School of Business at University of Pennsylvania and from Columbia Law School.

09/03/2025

We’re delighted to announce our eighth debate of term: “This House Believes The Time Has Come for a United Ireland”

On the Thursday night before St. Patrick's Day, we will be discussing whether it is now the time for a United Ireland. As part of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, a provision was made for holding a Northern Ireland border poll in UK law. Given the recent results of the General Election and subsequent changes in the UK government, the Irish election, and the Assembly Elections in the north of Ireland putting nationalists above unionists for the first time, will we see the unification of the island of Ireland?

Speakers:

Proposition

Aoife Moore is a Dublin-based journalist, author and documentary maker. Born and raised in Derry, she has become one of the foremost commentators on Irish society and politics. Her previous work has been as a political journalist at the BBC, The Irish Examiner and the Sunday Times. In 2021 she was named Journalist of the Year for breaking the Golfgate scandal. She is a Sunday Times Number One best selling author for her debut book The Long Game - Inside Sinn Fein.

Pat Cullen is the Sinn Fein MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone since 2024. She was previously the Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing from 2021 to 2024. She has previously worked as a community nurse in West Belfast and registered psychotherapist. In 2022, she led English and Welsh nurses in the first NHS strikes in the nursing union's history.

Student Speaker

Opposition

Malachi O'Doherty is a writer based in Belfast. He is the author of twelve published books, mostly memoir led and dealing with Northern Irish politics and the Troubles. Dr O'Doherty writes weekly columns for The Belfast Telegraph and the Irish Post, and is a frequent guest on BBC Radio Ulster.

Alex Burghart is the MP for Brentwood and Ongar and the Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Alex has been a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee and the Joint Committee on Human Rights and was previously a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Northern Ireland Secretary of State.

Student Speaker

08/03/2025

CANDIDATES RUNNING FOR MICHAELMAS 2025 POSITIONS

Hustings: 7:30pm on Thursday, 13th March in the Union.
Voting Period: 13th March post debate, to the 15th March in the Union.

07/03/2025

Join us for our panel discussion in collaboration with the Cambridge Centre for Palestine Studies: Palestine and the UK, on Monday 10th March, 5.30pm in the Chamber. This is an open event, so all are welcome, including those without a Union membership!

Our three speakers have seen the changing face of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the setbacks and reverses in the peace process. The panel aims to host a conversation about how to foster peaceful solutions amidst such enormous violence and conflict. We will be joined by:

Clare Short - a British politician who served as Secretary of State for International Development from 1997 to 2003. Prior to her parliamentary career, Clare worked as a civil servant at the Home Office where she worked within the Criminal and Immigration Departments and as part the Urban Deprivation Unit. During this period she also worked as director of both Youth Aid and All Faiths for One Race which focused on youth unemployment and combatting racism in Birmingham. Clare resigned from the Government in 2003 in opposition to the Iraq War.

Afif Safieh - a Palestinian diplomat. He has served as a Palestinian delegate to the Netherlands (1987-1990), to the United Kingdom (1990-2005), the Holy See, Vatican (1995-2005), and in Washington, D.C. as the head of the PLO mission (2005-2008). He was most recently the Palestinian ambassador to the Russian Federation. He is currently a retired ambassador.

Makram Khoury-Machool - a Palestinian-British academician specializing in International Relations and Political Communication, and the founding director www.CCPS21.org and the European Centre for the study of Extremism in Cambridge, UK.

06/03/2025

The Union is excited to announce that we will be joined by Abby Lee Miller in the Chamber on Wednesday 12th March, 7pm!

At the tenacious teen age of 14, Abby founded the Abby Lee Dance Company. With a penchant for creativity and a drive to succeed, Abby recognized that her 15 original company members needed to be strong, fearless and technically trained to be able to execute her innovative choreography. Under Abby’s direction, the ALDC Competition Team grew to 148 members. Year after year countless trophies, banners, crowns and titles, both regional and national, were won. Today, Abby Lee Miller has had students perform in 27 different Broadway shows (most recently the original B’way cast of The Notebook, the brand new Death Becomes Her, and Suffs Produced by Hillary Clinton)-while countless other alum have traveled the world with their dance training from the ALDC in Pittsburgh, PA.
In 2011, Abby Lee burst onto the reality TV scene and into your homes on screen when Lifetime Television followed a group of her students and their mothers to dance competitions. The rest, as they say, was history! Abby appeared on Jimmy Fallen, The Talk, Doctor’s, Dr Oz, co-hosted The View and served as a guest judge on Dancing With The Stars! Dance Moms became a pop-culture phenomenon which consistently drew 2.8 million viewers weekly, sold to international outlets, and aired in 134 countries. While Ms. Miller works on several new TV projects, she continues to entertain audiences on her own YouTube channel and teaches the art of Dance & Acrobatics to thousands of children at her own personal events and worldwide zoom classes too!

06/03/2025

We’re thrilled to announce that Dr Husam S. Zomlot, Diplomat and Head of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom, will be joining us at the Union on Thursday 20th March, 3pm!

Previously, Dr. Zomlot served as Ambassador to the United States, Strategic Affairs Advisor to the Palestinian president.

Dr Zomlot held several academic positions. He worked as a professor of Public Policy at Birzeit University, where he co-founded and chaired the Birzeit School of Government. He held a number of teaching and research positions at Harvard University and the University of London.

His professional experience includes working as an economist at the United Nations and economic researcher with the London School of Economics and the Palestine Policy Research Institute.

(Guest Policy in Highlights)

05/03/2025

The Union is excited to announce that we will be joined by Leonard Leo in the Chamber on Monday 11th March, 5pm!

Leonard Leo is Chairman of both Marble Freedom Trust and CRC Advisors, and in those roles has been described by several national and international media outlets as “one of the most powerful architects of America’s conservative movement and of the conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court.” The New York Times has called the Trust “one of the best-funded and most sophisticated operations in American politics” with “extraordinary influence” in advancing conservative philanthropy that focuses on the rule of law, free markets, media and entertainment, and the development of talent pipelines and networks to counteract Left dominance.

As Chairman of CRC Advisors, Leonard leads the firm’s focus on incubating new ventures for the conservative movement.

Leonard also serves as Co-Chairman of the Federalist Society and Chairman of the Teneo Network, two of the most successful talent pipelines in the American conservative movement.

Leonard holds degrees from Cornell University and Cornell Law School.

05/03/2025

What better way to spend a Monday night than learning how to make cocktails at the Cambridge Union!

Join us on March 11th at 7pm for the next instalment of our weekly cocktail making class.

Tickets are available at cus.org.

04/03/2025

We’re delighted to announce that Baroness Hale, former president of the UK Supreme Court, will be joining us THIS EVENING, Tuesday 4th March, at 6pm in the Library!

Lady Hale of Richmond, DBE took up appointment as President of the Supreme Court in September 2017, succeeding Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury. This was following her appointment as Deputy President from June 2013. In October 2009 she became the first woman Justice of the Supreme Court. In January 2004, Lady Hale became the United Kingdom's first woman Lord of Appeal in Ordinary after a varied career as an academic lawyer, law reformer, and judge.

After graduating from Cambridge in 1966, she taught law at Manchester University from 1966 to 1984, also qualifying as a barrister and practising for a while at the Manchester Bar. She specialised in Family and Social Welfare law, was founding editor of the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, and authored a pioneering case book on 'The Family, Law and Society'.

In 1984 she was the first woman to be appointed to the Law Commission, a statutory body which promotes the reform of the law. st to have made her career as an academic and public servant rather than a practising barrister. In 1999 she was the second woman to be promoted to the Court of Appeal, before becoming the first woman Law Lord.

(Guest Policy in Highlights)

03/03/2025

Join us for President’s Tea in the Members’ Room on Sunday 9th March at 2pm. We hope to see you there!

Address

9A Bridge Street
Cambridge
CB21UB

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 11pm
Wednesday	9am - 11pm
Thursday	9am - 11pm
Friday	9am - 1am

Telephone

+441223417144

Website

http://www.cus.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Cambridge Union posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to The Cambridge Union:

Videos

2/2 One from the archives: On the 7th November 2021, James Cleverly, the former Home Secretary spoke in opposition against Wes Streeting, the current Secretary of State for Health in one of our annual ‘This House Has No Confidence in Her Majesty’s Government’. Find the full video on our YouTube channel, linked in bio. Follow @cambridgeunion to find Streeting’s response

1/2 One from the archives: On the 7th November 2021, Wes Streeting, the Current Secretary of State for Health debated James Cleverly, the former Home Secretary in one of our annual debates: ‘This House Has No Confidence in Her Majesty’s Government’. Speaking in proposition as the former shadow Secretary of State for Child Poverty, he had recently criticised the government for their cuts to Universal Credit. Find the full video on our YouTube channel, linked in bio. Follow @cambridgeunion to find Cleverley’s response, posted tomorrow.

Julian Assange addressing the Cambridge Union Chamber on the 11th November, 2015, during his residence at the Ecuadorean Embassy from 2013. The WikiLeaks founder was invited to answer questions from the Chamber following a referendum to Union members, in which 77% voted in favour of the event being held. What has been deemed the ‘biggest leak of classified material in US History’, Assange was released today, taking a plea deal with US prosecutors which will allow him to walk free after having served 62 months in a UK jail. You can find his full address, alongside Stella Assange’s more recent address to the Cambridge Union on our YouTube channel linked in the bio.

Shortcuts

Our Story

**Debates** Hosting world famous weekly debates, we have debated some of the most pressing issues of our long history, discussed by some of the most influential people in the world, and some of the best student speakers in the world, alike. **Speakers** In the past few years alone Union members have met Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, the legendary actors Sir Ian McKellen and Bill Nighy, comedians Dara O'Briain and Russell Brand, and the controversial scientist and author Professor Richard Dawkins. **Charitable Work** Not only does the Union provide a service to students in Cambridge, it also has multiple programmes for disadvantaged children across the UK. Through teaching public speaking and debating, the Union’s charitable aim is to promote opportunity through education - and we have ambitious plans to expand our charitable work in the future. **Social Entertainment** Throughout the year we run some of the best social events in Cambridge. Our Spring Ball is hugely popular, and we kick off May Week with the most extravagant Garden Party around. But there's more. With pilates to pub quizzes, Comedy Smokers to Casino & Cocktails nights, we have something for everyone. There's something on almost every night of the week - Union membership ensures you a packed social calendar. **1815 Bar and Café** Our bar is the only one to cater to the whole university, making it the perfect place to chill with friends, particularly from other colleges. Complete with plasma screens and comfy sofas, plus nightly entertainment and drinks deals. Our café is the perfect place to work or play, offering cheap, fairtrade coffee and food throughout the day in a newly-refurbished, friendly and comfortable setting. Open most days until after midnight. **Library** Our beautiful and historic library is a great place to study and read away from college, with free Wi-Fi, newspapers, and the largest selection of borrowable fiction books outside of the University Library. **Competitive Debating** Our competitive debating teams regularly compete on an international level, and in the past two years have won more competitions than any other university in Britain or Ireland. We run workshops for those interested in improving their skills, as well as for complete beginners, giving our members the chance to learn from highly experienced debaters and compete in national competitions themselves.

The Cambridge Union

05/04/2025

04/04/2025

25/03/2025

18/03/2025

15/03/2025

14/03/2025

12/03/2025

10/03/2025

09/03/2025

09/03/2025

08/03/2025

07/03/2025

06/03/2025

06/03/2025

05/03/2025

05/03/2025

04/03/2025

03/03/2025

Address

Opening Hours

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Videos

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Our Story