The University of Oxford has a Reform UK society for the first time, after registering with the Proctors.
After a six-month wait to approve their application, the political society announced its official registration with the University in an Instagram post. The society’s President, Lincoln Hewitt, told Cherwell: “Our overarching aim is to open up Oxford to new ideas and debates ideas that students have had nowhere to discuss but a quiet pub corner, debates that the Union would not host.”
Though previously operating as the Oxford University Reform Society, they are officially referred to as the Oxon Universities’ Reform Society due to University rules on the use of the University trademark by new clubs. The extent of the society’s official relation to Reform UK is unconfirmed.
The Oxford society’s registration comes amid a surge of Reform-affiliated groups at UK universities. In November 2025, the national party set up Students for Reform, a network of Reform UK groups in universities across the country, to champion Reform-supporting students. A recent Instagram post by Students for Reform celebrated the presence of Reform societies at 13 out of 24 Russell Group universities.
Increased Reform presence on campus has caused controversy at multiple UK universities. Over 400 students and staff at the University of York protested against a Reform UK speaker event in November, while other Reform societies have faced hostile campaigns from left-wing groups and petitions against their affiliation. Earlier this year, a confrontation between Reform students and left-wing protestors at St Andrews University prompted Suella Braverman, a former Conservative MP who defected to become a spokesperson for Reform UK, to release a statement condemning both the university and the “political violence” of the students involved. A poll from the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) in January showed that 35% of UK students believe Reform should not be allowed to speak on campus.
While unregistered, the society hosted a Restore-Reform Britain debate and an event with historian David Starkey titled “A Scandal Unlike Any Other: Mandelson and the Rise and Fall of the New Labour System of Corruption”. The President of Reform Society told Cherwell that “the resources at our disposal and the University’s freedom of speech protections will permit us to run the full complement of events expected of an Oxford political club”. A forthcoming term card promises an “extensive programme of speaker events including members of parliaments and public figures”, the President added.
Regarding the new society’s role in the student politics landscape, the President told Cherwell: “Students on the right can expect to find their home and their voice.” President-Elect of the Oxford University Conservative Association, Aarav Desai, told Cherwell: “Oxford University Conservative Association will always remain the greatest home of conservatism in the University, with our esteemed history of fostering debate, free speech and conservative ideals… There will be no defectors to Reform society here”.
