The Oxford Conservative Association, or OCA (known on-and-off until early 2012 as OUCA or Oxford University Conservative Association) is a student political organisation founded in 1924 whose members are drawn from the University of Oxford. Since October 2009, OCA has been affiliated to Conservative Future, the Conservative Party youth wing.
Amongst the OCA alumni are many significant Conservative Party figures, including former Prime Ministers and Cabinet Ministers. Three past Presidents currently serve in the Cabinet: William Hague, Jeremy Hunt, and Dominic Grieve and two others, the Home Secretary, Theresa May and Leader of the House of Commons Sir George Young served on the association's committee whilst undergraduates. OCA has traditionally been thought of in Conservative Party circles as a training ground for future leading Party figures, with many of the skills of student politics being directly related to the skills needed to rise in a major political party.
Past Presidents of OCA also include Margaret Thatcher, Edward Heath, Jonathan Aitken, Lord Rees-Mogg, Daniel Hannan and Nick Robinson. Other prominent political figures known to be former OCA committee members or officers include Ann Widdecombe, Ed Vaizey and the Earl of Dartmouth. (Ed Balls, a former Labour Party Cabinet minister, is also an OCA alumnus, as well as former Labour Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant.)
The Patron of the association is Margaret Thatcher and the Honorary President is William Hague.
Read more about Oxford Conservative Association: Committee, OCA Events, Standing With The National Conservative Party, Breakaway Groups and Re-mergers, OCA in The Media, Recent Presidents
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