Abbreviation | GUCC / GUCUA |
---|---|
Formation | 1836 (as The Peel Club) |
Location | |
Parent organisation | University of Glasgow |
Affiliations | Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party |
The Glasgow University Conservative & Unionist Association (GUCUA) was founded in 1836[1] at the University of Glasgow, and is the oldest University Conservative association in the United Kingdom. It became a branch of the Federation of Conservative Students and of the Young Conservatives, and remains affiliated to the Scottish Conservative Party and the Scottish Young Conservatives. Its main aim is to promote Conservative and Unionist principles on campus and to provide a safe-space for Conservative debate.
Its original name was the The Peel Club,[2] and was formed after Robert Peel's 1836 election as Rector of Glasgow University; early members included critic John Campbell Shairp and clergyman Norman Macleod[3] (who was a president of the club).[4] In 1852 it changed its name to Glasgow University Conservative Club, which it remained for 120 years, renaming itself to GUCUA in 1972, before finally dying out in the 1980's.[5][6]