The GUU is one of the most successful university debating institutions in the world, winning the
World Universities Debating Championship five times, the European Universities Debating Championships once and the John Smith Memorial Mace a record 16 times. The Convener of Debates on the GUU Board is elected from the Union membership and heads the Union Debates Committee. The Convener is responsible for the internal and intervarsity debating activities of the GUU. The Union's Debates Chamber spans the first and second floors of the building. The Union historically held the biennial
John Smith Memorial Debate in memory of the former Leader of the
Labour Party and former member of the union and Convener of Debates. The last of these was held in 2011, when guest speakers included Shadow
Scottish Secretary Ann McKechin and former
Conservative Health Minister Gerry Malone, and which was chaired by then
Rector of the University and former leader of the
Liberal Democrats Charles Kennedy. A bust of John Smith by
Eduardo Paolozzi stands at the entrance to the Debates Chamber gallery. The Union holds a biennial Charles Kennedy Memorial Debate, the first having been held in 2015. In attendance at the inaugural memorial debate were:
Alex Cole-Hamilton, subsequent Liberal Democrat MSP for
Edinburgh Western;
Alistair Darling, former
Chancellor of the Exchequer and Labour MP for
Edinburgh South West;
Fiona Hyslop, SNP MSP for
Linlithgow and
Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs;
Ian Duncan, Conservative MEP;
Graham Stringer, Labour MP for
Blackley and Broughton; and
Alastair Campbell, former
Director of Communications and Strategy at Number 10. The debate was chaired by Former President of the Union and former leader of the Liberal Democrats and MP for
North East Fife Sir Menzies Campbell.
World Debating Anniversary To mark the 30th anniversary of the
World Universities Debating Championships, which were founded by GUU, it held a Grand Show Debate on the subject of
Scottish independence. This was held in the union on 19 November 2011. The debate featured eight of the union's ten former world champions and was chaired by the union president, Chris Sibbald. Speakers in the debate included: former
ITN presenter
John Nicolson, Managing Director of
McKinsey & Company UK and Ireland
Kevin Sneader,
Royal Bank of Scotland Global Head of Equities Frank McKirgan, Gillette Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of
Procter & Gamble Austin Lally, now President of
Braun and a member of the P&G Global Leadership Council, advocate Manus Blessing, Managing Director of
Bain Capital Robin Marshall, former
MSP,
Duncan Hamilton, and entrepreneur Gordon Peterson. Over two hundred of the union's distinguished alumni turned out for the event, including: former leader of the
Liberal Democrats Charles Kennedy; former Conservative Minister of Health
Gerald Malone;
Channel Four Business Correspondent
Sarah Smith; Labour peers
Lord James Gordon and Baroness Smith, wife of former
Leader of the Opposition and friend of the union,
John Smith;
Lord Justice Clerk Lord Gill; football commentator
Archie Macpherson and comedian Len Murray. The debate motion of "This House believes in an Independent Scotland", a controversial issue in British politics, was won by the 1987 World Champion team of Kevin Sneader and Austin Lally. They won a Worlds tournament in UCD in 1987 of 110 teams. The Best Speaker prize was awarded to
Duncan Hamilton. The debate garnered national press attention and was filmed live and broadcast internationally by
STV. STV's political editor
Bernard Ponsonby covered the event.
Inter-Varsity Debating The GUU has an established record of international debating success and prominence. It hosted the first
World Universities Debating Championship in its current form in 1981 and again in 1990 and 2001. The Union won the Championship five times, in 1983, 1987, 1992, 1994 and 1997. In addition, the GUU has a distinguished history in the
John Smith Memorial Mace, a competition between the winners of regional competitions in
Ireland,
England,
Scotland and, latterly,
Wales. It holds the record for the most overall wins with a total of sixteen. In more recent years, the GUU has regularly reached the advanced stages of both the World and European Universities Debating Championships, in addition to winning several domestic UK competitions. The Union most recently made the World Universities Debating Championships Finals in
Chennai 2014 and, with a team of Bethany Garry and Owen Mooney, won the European Universities Debating Championship for the first time in August 2017.
Parliamentary Debating The Union is notable for its five annual Parliamentary Debates. This format is unique to the Union, involving an Afternoon Session and an Evening Session of five rounds each. GUU Parliamentaries are not to be confused with the
British Parliamentary style of debating. Parliamentary debates currently involve five (fictitious) clubs: the
Scottish Nationalist Association, Her Majesty's Loyal
Tory Club, the
Whigs Club, the Independent
Socialists and The World Almighty
Distributist League. During Parliamentary debates, speakers are referred to by Parliamentary names, assigned to them akin to "constituencies", but usually of a humorous nature. Some members join clubs to which they are politically aligned; others join clubs for social reasons or for competitive reasons, hoping to be selected by that club's leader to deliver speeches during desirable rounds of the debate. In each year, the clubs rotate roles, as the "
Government", "
Opposition", Strong Support, Strong Opposition, and Weak Support/Opposition. The Government presents a
Bill containing a preamble and three clauses, which is then argued over the course of about nine hours of debate, concluded by the "Prime Minister" who typically gives a speech of between thirty and sixty minutes to sum up the debate. The debate is judged by the Clerks Bench, consisting of the Clerk to the House, the Deputy Clerk, and three Assistant Clerks. The current Clerk to the House is Mischa Watson, and the Deputy Head Clerk is Emma Walker. The scores are revealed during the last (and longest) debate. In addition to the Club Championship, individual prizes are awarded to the Best Speaker, Most Promising Speaker, Best Maiden Speaker. There are two additional prizes, the Frederick Richters Cup for best performing speaker for whom English is their Second Language and the John Morrison "Hobbit" Prize for outstanding contributions to the GUU debating community. Each Parliamentary Debate has a theme and the order is usually as follows: The President's Debate (dedicated to the President of the Union), The Secretary's Debate (dedicated to the Board of Management of the GUU), The Dialectic Debate (dedicated to the Dialectic Society), The Old Hacks' debate (where graduates and former members of the House return for a dedicated additional round) and the Guests' Debate (where members of other debating institutions are invited to participate in the "Guest Round"). The Club Leaders for 2025–2026 are: •
Scottish Nationalist Association – Cameron MacKenzie • '''Her Majesty's Loyal Tory Club''' – Morven Connell •
The Whig Club – Sally Dean •
Independent Socialists – Amy Simmons •
The World Almighty Distributist League – Natasha Cameron
Dialectic Society The Glasgow University Dialectic Society was the original debating society for students at the university, thought to have originated from some time around the university's foundation in 1451 but re-instituted in 1861. The Dialectic Society was one of the organisations which contributed to the establishment of the union in 1885 and continues to be involved in the debating activities of the union, whilst retaining an independent status. The GUU Convenor of Debates is an
ex officio member of the Board of the Dialectic Society, and the third Parliamentary of the year is dedicated the
Dialectic Parliamentary. ==Entertainment==