Robert Jenrick, the Shadow Justice Secretary, Shadow Lord Chancellor and MP for Newark will address UCL, KCL, QMUL and City St George’s Tory Societies at a £115 per head dinner on 25 March.
Tory sources close to The Cheese Grater noted that securing Jenrick as the guest of honour was “relatively easy”, despite him being a former minister. Sources also said they expected the dinner – which is taking place at an unnamed private members club – to be a great success, with tickets selling fast.
The dinner is a yearly tradition for the UCL Tories, with the oldest Conservative Society in the UK having hosted many Tory big whigs in the past. Last year’s Guest of Honour was controversial historian David Starkey, who lost much academic credibility in 2020 after stating on a podcast with Darren Grimes that: “slavery wasn’t a genocide, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many damn blacks in Africa and Britain.”
Despite the prominence of the event, and the reported wealth of the UCL Conservative Society, the price of the dinner has been deemed too expensive by some. The £115 price tag is much more than any other political society event at UCL this year, with neither Labour or the Lib Dems putting on events costing more than £20.
Moreover, the visit of such a high-profile Conservative MP, who notably lost against Kemi Badenoch in the final round of the Conservative Leadership Contest last year, is surprising considering the previous controversies at KCL and UCL Conservative Society crossover events.
Last year, Roar News reported on a series of controversies surrounding the behaviour of KCL Conservative Society members, with the society eventually suspended by the KCLSU in February 2024 after a British Union of Fascists armband was produced at a Port & Policy debate.
This accompanied a host of other reports that homophobic, antisemitic and discriminatory language was used at the same event. The Cheese Grater understands that some UCL Tories were also in attendance at the debate.
The UCL Tories likewise got into trouble after a separate Port & Policy, where a motion proposed read: “This house would sink the small boats”. The UCL society was suspended in January 2024, but returned later that year after an investigation by the Students’ Union.
The Cheese Grater reported in October 2024 that the UCL Tories were suspended again after failing to obtain an alcohol licence prior to a different Port & Policy debate. Sources in the UCL Tories have told The Cheese Grater that their former President was permanently barred from holding any position in the Students’ Union thereafter.
The process of the ex-President’s barring allegedly saw a senior Union officer accidentally quote Idi Amin, the Ugandan dictator, in saying that they “believe in free speech, but not in freedom after speech” in reference to the conduct of UCL Conservative Society. The Cheese Grater cannot verify these claims.
It is unknown whether Jenrick is aware of these recent controversies in the UCL and KCL Conservative Societies.
It should be noted that Jenrick is also not free from controversy, with his policies on immigration deemed by some to be extreme. The ex-minister has previously expressed his support for withdrawing the UK from the European Court of Human Rights, and has been noted by Conservative colleagues to be “militant” in his anti-immigration stance.
When asked for comment, the UCL Conservative Society said:
In inviting Mr. Jenrick to be our Guest of Honour, members will get the opportunity to hear from him on the Conservative and Unionist Party’s official policy and his views on present government policy. We also see this as an opportunity to engage in a respectful, meaningful dialogue with a leading elected politician, including enabling members to scrutinise his views and record.
As an independent, student-led organisation which is not affiliated with any political party, we would like to note that Mr. Jenrick’s views are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the UCL Conservative Society or its members.
