William Atkinson - a second year reading History at Christ Church - writes his account of Charles Moore’s recent visit to Oxford University Conservative Association.

Charles Moore is a titan of British conservatism. A former editor of The Spectator, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, he is best known across the world as the authorised biographer of Mrs Thatcher. Whilst I’m sure many of us find great joy every week from Moore’s continuing columns in the Speccie and Telegraph, it was in his capacity as Maggie’s interpreter on Earth that he came to speak to OUCA. He did so in the deeply appropriate setting of Lady Margaret Hall. But it was a speech with a difference. The major difference was that it wasn’t really a speech at all. At least, not in a traditional sense.

Stanislaw Szelag is a first year reading Theology and Religion at St. John’s College

Please do not interpret the title and nature of this essay as screaming ‘TORIES!’ or somehow claiming to read the mind of Boris Johnson at this exact moment. This is not what I mean by ‘conservatism’ here. What I will be speaking of is a general attitude to the reality surrounding us, both individual and in relation to our friends and people we love, and though it certainly can manifest itself politically it is, paradoxically, a very much anti-political attitude.

Kofo Braithwaite (Communications Director) is a second year historian at Christ Church.

“How can you be black and a Tory?”, “you’re a sell-out if you vote for Boris”, “you do realise Tories hate black people, right?”. These are a few examples of comments made to me more regularly than one might think by friends and critics alike, of all races and ethnicities. Those who know me well will know that I make no attempt to hide my political views. I am extremely vocal (perhaps too vocal) about my passion for politics and conservatism, overcompensating for my peers who all too often feel unable to speak out due to fears of social exclusion. I have never suffered from such fears, nor have I cared as to what others make of my views. I have always believed if someone is willing to exclude you based on your politics, they were never worth your time in the first place.

William Atkinson is a second year reading History at Christ Church

I’d always imagined being the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff would be exciting. I’m an avid fan of The West Wing. My shelves at home are laced with various well-thumbed copies of Anthony Seldon’s books on Prime Ministers and Number 10 staff. The drama and challenge of being at the centre, balancing the political, national and personal on a day-to-day and hour-by-hour basis; it would be like 24, but with more ministerial Red Boxes. Heck, it could even be quite funny: whether the reality is more like Yes, Prime Minister or The Thick of It, it certainly sounds more interesting than, say, working in IT. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, by the way: I don’t want The Guardian reading this and thinking me a snob.

Aurora Guerrini is a DPhil student reading Physical and Theoretical Chemistry at Worcester College

Aurora writes her account of Richard Graham MP’s speaker event with us on 6th February.

On Thursday of 3rd week in the somewhat hallowed halls of Christ Church, OUCA was delighted to welcome Richard Graham MP to speak. This was an informal affair filled with discussion, drinks in the nearby pub and the occasional joke at the expense of Jeremy Corbyn and the newly christened ‘Rebecca Wrong-Daily’.

Annabelle Fuller is a second-year undergraduate reading Classics and English at Magdalen College

Annabelle writes an account of Daniel Hannan’s recent talk with Oxford University Conservative Association on Tuesday 4th February.

There is a man in an Oxford lecture hall waving his arms about. He is dressed in a perfectly cut blue suit, viyella shirt, and shoes as shiny as a new Brexit fifty pence piece. The man is Daniel Hannan, and he is addressing a student audience of wannabe politicians, economists, journalists, and Policy Exchange hacks.

Edward McLaren is a first year reading English at Keble College

Edward has written a poem with the foremost concern of Great Britain: its past and present, triumphs and defeats, prides and shames, and of the individual’s attempt to reconcile each with each. Child of a soul, worldly and mothering, and of a state, national and fathering, so must our country learn to do the like if to survive this challenging modern age.

Juan Dávila is a First Year reading Engineering Science at St. John’s College

As an international student who enjoys political discussion the question “so how’s Spain doing?” was bound to come up, thankfully (for the conversation if not my home country) the situation offers ample space for commentary and discussion. I can tell a tale of rising and falling powers, backstabbing, and shifty players, who defend their fiefdoms using them as power bases to control the machinery of state. This can all sound rather grandiose and evoke imagery of political dramas, where we would see Pablo Iglesias ride in on a dragon and scorch the bourgeoisie. However, this is not the case - a more apt comparison would be a Latin-American “Telenovela”, ironically.