The John Smith Memorial Mace (known as the Observer Mace from 1954 to 1995) is an annual

debating Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

tournament ( British Parliamentary format) contested by

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The equivalent competition for secondary schools is the ESU Schools Mace.

History

The competition was founded in 1954 by the journalist Kenneth Harris of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' newspaper,The journalist who saved The Observer
''The Guardian'', 3 July 2005 and was sponsored by the newspaper until 1995. It was then renamed the John Smith Memorial Mace in honour of the British Labour Party leader John Smith, who won the tournament as a member of the

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

team in 1962, and died in 1994. The competition has been held annually since 1954, except for 1977, when no tournament was organised. In the early years, neither Oxbridge debating society (the

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...

and

Cambridge Union The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1815, it is the oldest continuously running debati ...

) participated.

Glasgow University Union Glasgow University Union (GUU) is one of the largest and oldest students' unions in the UK, serving students and alumni of the University of Glasgow since 1885. The GUU organises social affairs for its members, provides catering and entertainm ...

has been the most successful institution in the competition's history, winning the tournament 16 times, most recently in 2018. In addition to John Smith, other notable former winners include

Charles Kennedy Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 1959 – 1 June 2015) was a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 ...

Donald Dewar Donald Campbell Dewar (21 August 1937 – 11 October 2000) was a Scottish politician who served as the inaugural First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 1999 until his death in 2000. He previously served as ...

John Nicolson John MacKenzie Nicolson (born 23 June 1961) is a Scottish journalist, broadcaster and Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. Since the 2019 general election he has been the SNP Member of Parliament (MP) for Ochil and South Perthshire. He w ...

, Lord Hunt of Wirral and Professor Anthony Clare.

Format

From 1993, the competition has been run by the English-Speaking Union, with assistance from regional convenors. Four regional tournaments are held each year for universities in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The Irish tournament is open to teams from both the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. The winners of these four regional competitions then go on to face each other in the International Final, which is held each spring to determine the overall champions. No International Final has been held since 2019 when the English-Speaking Union removed its sponsorship of the competition. Only the Scottish Mace (which served as the regional qualifier and national championship for Scotland) and the Irish Mace (which served as the regional qualifier and national championship for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) have continued. All debates in the competition are held using the British Parliamentary debate format. Speeches in the International Final and regional finals are seven minutes long, which is similar to most other British Parliamentary format tournaments, where speeches are usually seven or five minutes long. Until 2001, speeches in the tournament's finals were ten minutes long. The Mace is considered by many debaters to be effectively an overall championship for the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

, with the regional qualifying tournament serving effectively as national championships for England, Scotland and Wales. The

Irish Times National Debating Championship The Irish Times National Debating Championship is a debating competition for students in higher education in Ireland. It has been run since 1960, sponsored by ''The Irish Times''. While most participants represent institutions in the Republic of ...

served as the Irish qualifier for the Mace in the 1960s, but is now run separately.

Past champions

Most victories

Glasgow University Union 16 Cambridge Union 6 University of Edinburgh 5 Lincoln's Inn 4 University College Dublin Literary & Historical Society 4 Inner Temple 3 Trinity College Dublin Philosophical Society 2 Trinity College Dublin Historical Society 2 Oxford Union 2 King's Inns 2 University College Dublin Law Society 2 Middle Temple 2 University College Cardiff 2 University College Cork Philosophical Society 1 University College Cork Law Society 1 Gray's Inn 1 University of Bristol 1 Ealing College 1 Birkbeck College 1 Ruskin College 1 University of Strathclyde 1

Victories by country

, Scotland 21 , England 21 , Ireland 14 , Wales 2

Winners of recent national qualifying tournaments

English Mace

Irish Mace

Scottish Mace

Welsh Mace

England & Wales Mace

Prior to the 2001-2 academic year, England and Wales held a combined qualifying tournament for the International Final of the Mace. At the time, the winners of the Irish, Scottish and English/Welsh tournaments qualified for the International Final automatically, while runners-up from the events qualified for a

repechage Repechage (; french: repêchage, "fishing out, rescuing") is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well known example is the wild car ...

debate which determined the fourth team in the International Final. After the 2000-1 academic year, England and Wales began holding separate qualifying tournaments and the repechage was abolished.

References

External links

Page on the John Smith Memorial Mace at the English-Speaking Union website

Page on the John Smith Memorial Mace at britishdebate.com
{{University debating British debating competitions Debating competitions in Ireland 1954 establishments in the United Kingdom Recurring events established in 1954 Student events Student organisations in the United Kingdom