John Smith Memorial Mace
The John Smith Memorial Mace was an annual debating tournament contested by universities in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
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 newspaper, and was sponsored by the newspaper until 1995. It was then renamed the John Smith Memorial Mace in honour of British Labour Party leader John Smith, who won the tournament as a member of the Glasgow University 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 societies participated. Glasgow University Union 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, Donald Dewar, John Nicolson, Lord Hunt of Wirral and Professor Anthony Clare.
Format
Since 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 and Northern Ireland. 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 has continued consistently, with the Irish Mace continuing in most years and the Welsh Mace continuing in some years.
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 and Ireland, with the regional qualifying tournaments serving effectively as national championships for England, Scotland and Wales. The Irish Times National Debating Championship served as the Irish qualifier for the Mace in the 1960s, but is now run separately.
Past champions
| Year | Institution / Society | Speakers |
| 2018 | Glasgow University Union | Owen Mooney & Zannah Muir |
| 2017 | Oxford Union | Teck Wei Tan & Louis Collier |
| 2016 | University College Dublin | Aodhán Peelo & Clíodhna Ní Chéileachair |
| 2015 | Cambridge Union | Ashish Kumar & Michael Dunn Goekjian |
| 2014 | Cambridge Union | Kitty Parker Brooks & Ben Adams |
| 2013 | Trinity College Dublin Historical Society | Sally Rooney & Ian Curran |
| 2012 | University College Dublin Literary & Historical Society | Ciarán Garrett & Michael O'Dwyer |
| 2011 | Cambridge Union | Doug Cochran & Maria English |
| 2010 | University of Edinburgh | Paul Brown & Sebastian Osborn |
| 2009 | Oxford Union | Jonathan Leader Maynard & Alex Worsnip |
| 2008 | Lincoln's Inn | Usman Ahmed & Hannah Klein |
| 2007 | Cambridge Union | Sam Block & Adam Bott |
| 2006 | King's Inns | Barry Glynn & Mark Murphy |
| 2005 | Lincoln's Inn | Fiona Dewar & Sebastian Isaac |
| 2004 | Cambridge Union | Harriet Jones-Fenleigh & Nicholas Tan |
| 2003 | University College Cork Law Society | Stephen Coutts & Cian Murphy |
| 2002 | Lincoln's Inn | Dennis Kavanagh & George Payne |
| 2001 | University College Dublin Literary & Historical Society | Paul Brady & Colin Walsh |
| 2000 | Trinity College Dublin Philosophical Society | Bob Cuffe & Fergal Davis |
| 1999 | University of Edinburgh | Andrew Jessop & Richard Wilkins |
| 1998 | University of Edinburgh | Ben Foss & Colm O'Cinneide |
| 1997 | Trinity College Dublin Philosophical Society | Matthew Magee & Alex Massie |
| 1996 | University of Edinburgh | Bob Dalrymple & Stephen Magee |
| 1995 | Glasgow University Union | Manus Blessing & Duncan Hamilton |
| 1994 | Oxford Union | Rufus Black & Rod Clayton |
| 1993 | Gray's Inn | David Langwallner & Alan Maclean |
| 1992 | Glasgow University Union | Robin Marshall & Paul Sinclair |
| 1991 | Middle Temple | Jeremy Callman & Adam Deacock |
| 1990 | Glasgow University Union | Graeme Cleugh & Andrew Peterson |
| 1989 | Trinity College Dublin Historical Society | Anthony Whelan & Malachy McAllister |
| 1988 | University College Cork Philosophical Society | Adrian Hunt & Tim Murphy |
| 1987 | Glasgow University Union | Jardine Simpson & John Fletcher |
| 1986 | King's Inns | Dermot Horgan & Damien Crawford |
| 1985 | Glasgow University Union | Michael McKirdy & Angus Maciver |
| 1984 | University College Dublin Literary & Historical Society | Shane Murphy & Patrick Whyms |
| 1983 | Glasgow University Union | Michael Macfarlane & John Nicolson |
| 1982 | Glasgow University Union | Charles Kennedy & Clark McGinn |
| 1981 | Lincoln's Inn | Oliver Wise & Anthony Trace |
| 1980 | Middle Temple | Nicholas Mostyn & John Lyons |
| 1979 | University College Dublin Law Society | Donal O'Donnell & Conor Gearty |
| 1978 | University College Dublin Law Society | Donal O'Donnell & Conor Gearty |
| 1977 | No tournament | - |
| 1976 | Inner Temple | Oliver Ross & Martin Russell |
| 1975 | Inner Temple | Ian Bullock & Edward Croff |
| 1974 | Glasgow University Union | Alistair Burrow & Martin MacLachlan |
| 1973 | Ealing College | Barrie Hawkins & Bob Meaton |
| 1972 | Glasgow University Union | Alan Gamble & Alistair Robertson |
| 1971 | Inner Temple | John M Aspinall & Dennis M Singham |
| 1970 | University College Cardiff | John Crook & Nick Jenkins |
| 1969 | Cambridge Union | Rajeev Dhavan & Nicholas Stadlen |
| 1968 | University of Strathclyde | James Hutchison & Victor MacColl |
| 1967 | Glasgow University Union | Colin MacKay & Matthew McQueen |
| 1966 | Trinity College Dublin Historical Society | David J McConnell & Cian Ó hÉigeartaigh |
| 1965 | University of Bristol | Bob Marshall-Andrews & David Hunt |
| 1964 | University College Dublin Literary & Historical Society | Anthony Clare & Patrick Cosgrave |
| 1963 | Glasgow University Union | Donald Dewar & Malcom MacKenzie |
| 1962 | Glasgow University Union | A Gordon Hunter & John Smith |
| 1961 | University of Edinburgh | Russell Johnston & David Harcus |
| 1960 | University College Cardiff | Vincent Kane & Mary O'Neill |
| 1959 | University College Dublin Literary & Historical Society | Godfrey Agbim & Owen Dudley Edwards |
| 1958 | Birkbeck College | Ernest C. Dalrymple-Alford & Fred Crawford |
| 1957 | Glasgow University Union | Ronald Anderson & James Gordon |
| 1956 | Glasgow University Union | Roger McCormick & J Scott Bernie |
| 1955 | Glasgow University Union | J Dickson Mabon & Andrew Kennedy |
| 1954 | Ruskin College | Tom Megahy & William McCarthy |
Most victories
| Institution/Society | 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 |
| Oxford Union | 3 |
| Trinity College Dublin Philosophical Society | 2 |
| Trinity College Dublin Historical Society | 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 |