The Debating Group, of which Christine Jardine MP is president, will celebrate half a century of debates at a reception held in the Palace of Westminster this evening
The executive committee of the group was set up in 1974 with the aim of putting on debates in Westminster where contentious political issues in the media and marketing fields could be discussed. The inaugural debate took place on Monday 16 June 1975.
Crossbench peer Rt Hon Lord Chalfont OBE MC, Nicholas Scott MBE MP (Con — Chelsea), John Cousins (national secretary — Transport and General Workers’ Union) and Anthony Dumont (deputy chair – Consumers’ Association) tussled over whether advertising or trade unions had done more for ‘the average man’ over the previous fifty years. The motion was carried.
Since then 844 other speakers — drawn from the worlds of politics, media, marketing, law, think-tanks, the church, academia and even the US Embassy in London — have participated in 211 debates resulting in 104 motions being carried, 106 defeated, plus two tied votes in 2001 and 2004 respectively. Parliamentarians chair the proceedings.
Among the chairs and speakers have been two future prime ministers and an eventual chancellor of the exchequer. Tony Blair spoke at a debate in 1987 where he succeeded in defeating the motion that ‘Public opinion polls should be banned once a general election has been called’, while Theresa May and Jeremy Hunt were both chairs in 2008. Other high-profile speakers down the years have been Sir Alistair Burnett, Rt Hon Lord (Bill) Deedes of Aldington MC DL, Sheila McKechnie, Auberon Waugh, Mary Whitehouse and — naturally enough — Formula One World Champion Graham Hill.
Commenting ahead of the event, the chair of the Debating Society Stephen Woodford said:
“The Debating Group is a truly unique institution that is ultimately predicated on the goodwill of parliamentarians – not least our president and vice-presidents, the eloquence of the speakers we attract and the dedication of its sponsoring organisations to the cause and, in particular, those who represent them on its executive committee.
“I would like to pay tribute to all those who have made The Debating Group the success it has been these past 50 years, not least those who founded it. I am sure they would be proud of the wide range of debates — some light-hearted, others really quite profound and important — that the group has held in this time. I like to think that the involvement of MPs and peers in such events are useful in alerting them to emergent issues in the media and marketing landscape.
“Whilst some of the debate motions are very much of their era, others have aged rather better and would not look out of place if they were debated tomorrow. I am hopeful that one of my successors as Chair will be in a position to say something similar come 2075.”
It is free to attend Debating Group debates, with numbers only restricted by the capacity of the room in which they take place. The group’s next debate — organised by the Independent Print Industries Association — is scheduled to take place on the early evening of Wednesday 9 July 2025 in Committee Room 12 of the Palace of Westminster, when the motion will be “Campaigns that include print are more effective”.
For further details and to secure a ticket, please visit The Debating Group page on Eventbrite. Debate reports are published shortly after the event takes place and are available to download from The Debating Group website.
