19th century The union was founded in 1842 as the Durham University Union along the same lines as the
Cambridge Union (founded 1815) and the
Oxford Union (founded 1823). An earlier Durham University Debating Society had existed from 1835–1839, with financial support from the university. These societies were not just for debating but were also clubs, and thus maintained facilities such as reading and dining rooms in addition to holding debates. After the establishment of the Durham Union, no further student debating societies were established upon these lines. Durham also followed Oxford in adopting
parliamentary procedures in its debates from the initial foundation in 1835, which Cambridge also adopted in 1842 and which became standard in debating societies later in the 19th century. Few records remain from the mid 19th century, but the Oxford Union's records show that the Durham Union was operating in 1856. The society moved to a site adjacent to the university library on
Palace Green in 1872. By this time,
students' unions had begun to be established in
redbrick universities such as
Liverpool, and Durham University extended an offer to the union society to convert it into a students' union that would receive funding from the university. However, the union members rejected this offer and decided to remain independent, leading to the foundation of the separate
Student Representative Council and continued poverty for the union society.
20th century Political debates became more frequent in the early twentieth century. Society members almost invariably sided with the positions of the
Conservative Party. A debate in 1901 saw
Lord Salisbury's
third administration receive a vote of confidence of more than 90 per cent. In 1905, 1907, and again in 1911, the policies of the
Liberal Party were rejected by majorities of more than 70 per cent. Opinions on immigration were not consistent, with students in 1903 "widely applauding" anti-immigration views in one term and rejecting similar motions by a majority of five to one in the following term. To mark the 70th anniversary of the Durham Union, an inter-varsity debate chaired by then President
J. E. T. Philipps, was held on Saturday 16 March 1912 at the Great Hall of
University College, and featured visiting teams from
Oxford,
Cambridge,
Trinity College, Dublin, and
Edinburgh University – with the burning issue of Irish Home Rule as the subject of discussion. This was something of a reunion for three of the participants: Philipps,
F. K. Griffith (President of the
Oxford Union), and
H. Grose–Hodge (from the
Cambridge Union) were all schoolmates in the same form at
Marlborough College. The union also backed campaigns for women's suffrage and a Women's Union was started at 44 North Bailey in 1914. This would continue as a separate entity, with the two unions segregated by sex, for almost half a century before a decision to merge was made 1959, with the Durham Union being fully integrated by 1964. To get around the limitations of its premises, the society traded its ownership of 44 North Bailey opposite Hatfield College for the old site of
St Aidan's Society at 24 North Bailey in 1964, following the integration of the Women's Union.
21st century In 2010, the union was forced to cancel a debate on multiculturalism on safety grounds, after the
National Union of Students' Black Students Officer
Bell Ribeiro-Addy and LGBT Officer Daf Adley sent a letter to the union, Durham University and
Durham Students Union. The letter opposed the invitation of then
BNP MEP Andrew Brons, and warned of a “colossal demonstration” if the debate went ahead. It went on to say “If any students are hurt in and around this event, responsibility will lie with you.” Following a backlash, NUS President
Wes Streeting appeared before the Durham Union to apologise for the actions of the officers concerned and a significant number of Durham students protested outside the debating chamber. An anti-censorship protest group on Facebook quickly amassed over 2,500 members, and a petition calling for a referendum on disaffiliation from the NUS was lodged with Durham Students' Union. A referendum was subsequently held in March 2010, with students voting to disaffiliate. A little under a year later, Durham Students' Union held a further referendum, which voted to re-affiliate with the NUS. In October 2015, President Napat Rungsrithananon invited
Tommy Robinson to the society with Robinson himself appearing to confirm his upcoming appearance on X (formally Twitter). However, the event was cancelled after the university "urged the cancellation of a speech" by Robinson. Robinson expressed his frustrations via X, saying "Free speech is dead." After winning a Durham Union debate in 2017,
Spectator columnist
James Delingpole wrote that "For a real Oxbridge education, you now have to go to Durham", claiming that Oxford and Cambridge had become "a sterile, conformist, PC monoculture of earnest state-indoctrinated Stakhanovites". In contrast,
Toby Young branded the union "a gang of left-wing thugs" after taking part in a debate in 2019. In 2017, the Chinese Embassy in London attempted to block supermodel and activist
Anastasia Lin from speaking in a debate. An official at the embassy warned the union that the debate, which also featured former Foreign Secretary
Sir Malcolm Rifkind, could damage relations between the UK and China. Union president
Tom Harwood insisted that "Everyone has been very polite", and the debate went ahead as planned. This was cited internationally as an example of attempts by the Chinese government to censor debate in the West. In a December 2020 members' referendum, Durham Union Debating, the student competitive debate wing of the Durham Union, voted to leave the Durham Union Society, and affiliate with the Durham Students' Union as the independent Durham Debating Society. In June 2022, the Durham Debating Society voted to reverse this decision and re-affiliate with the Durham Union Society, leaving the Durham Students' Union. An article in
The Times in 2022, in the run-up to the
Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, said that free speech at universities was being constrained by 'quiet
no-platforming' by student debating societies. The Durham Union made a joint statement with the Oxford and Cambridge unions (which
The Times declined to publish) rejecting the allegations and reaffirming that "the discussion of complex, sometimes controversial, topics should not only be encouraged but is an essential element of any free, progressive society". In June 2024, a debate on the topic "This house believes Palestinian leadership is the biggest barrier to peace" was postponed by the university at short notice on police advice due to a threat to public safety from pro-Palestine protesters, who were blocking the entrances to the building, adjacent to the on-going protest camp on
Palace Green. An anonymous union member and one of the invited speakers told journalists that the university had chosen not to use the police to force the protestors to move. The rescheduled debate was held that November in a lecture theatre in the university's Elvet Riverside complex, with one protestor arrested at the entrance to the Pemberton Buildings (before the change of venue was made known) and later released without charge. The proposition was carried 92–59.
The Daily Telegraph reported in October 2024 that the Durham Union had been blocked from taking part in the
freshers' fair organised by
Durham Students' Union. This was claimed by a free speech group, the
Free Speech Union, to be due to political bias with the group's leader,
Toby Young, saying that the university was violating its legal duty to ensure free speech. However, Durham Union stated that the university had complied with its free speech duties by providing them with an alternative venue. Durham Students' Union stated that the block on Durham Union's participation in the freshers' fair was in accordance with the agreement last year that future participation would be conditional on Durham Union improving its record on equality, diversity and inclusion. == Governance ==