The Durham Union has hosted prominent figures such as former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Theresa May, actors Michael Palin and Jeremy Irons, actresses Imelda Staunton and Maggie Smith, members of the House of Lords, Baron Winston and Baroness Grey-Thompson, and television presenters Anton Du Beke and Jeremy Vine.

[4] Previous Presidents and members of the Union has gone on to hold prominence within the UK including former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Mo Mowlam, former Secretary of State for Wales Robert Buckland, former Chief of the General Staff The Lord Dannatt, current Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer, and GB News presenter Tom Harwood.

At the time, the influence of the dean and chapter governing Durham Cathedral was significant, and the student intake at the university included large numbers of young men preparing for holy orders.

[8] Some debates were tongue-in-cheek, such as an 1887 motion 'That in the opinion of this House the Fair Sex is the root of all evil' – a proposal eventually defeated by a large majority.

[8][14][15] To mark the 70th anniversary of the Durham Union, an inter-varsity debate chaired by then President J. E. T. Philipps, was held on Saturday 16 March 1912 at the Great Hall of University College, and featured visiting teams from Oxford, Cambridge, Trinity College, Dublin, and Edinburgh University – with the burning issue of Irish Home Rule as the subject of discussion.

Bertie Dockerill, an academic who has written on the history of student debating societies, emphasises that continued use of university-owned facilities:[8][18] has remained dependent upon the University believing that they were necessary, a system of landlordism that has not served the DUS well.

The Union has been forcibly removed from its original home upon the library side of Palace Green that it had been gifted by the Warden of the University in 1873 (it now houses a lavatory complex), had its artwork appropriated, its coffee shop and dining room confiscated, and enjoys neither a library nor sole usage of its debating chamber, the latter commandeered daily by the University for lecturesTo get around the limitations of its premises, the society traded its ownership of 44 North Bailey opposite Hatfield College for the old site of St Aidan's Society at 24 North Bailey in 1964, following the integration of the Women's Union.

The letter opposed the invitation of then BNP MEP Andrew Brons, and warned of a “colossal demonstration” if the debate went ahead.

It went on to say “If any students are hurt in and around this event, responsibility will lie with you.”[20] The cancellation of the debate by Union President Anna Birley on safety grounds was met with fierce backlash.

[25] In 2017, the Chinese Embassy in London attempted to block supermodel and activist Anastasia Lin from speaking in a debate.

An official at the embassy warned the union that the debate, which also featured former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, could damage relations between the UK and China.

[31] In contrast, Toby Young branded the union "a gang of left-wing thugs" after taking part in a debate in 2019.

[33] In June 2024, a debate on the topic "This house believes that the Palestinian leadership is the biggest barrier to peace" was postponed by the university at short notice on police advice due to a threat to public safety from pro-Palestine protesters, who were blocking the entrances to the building, adjacent to the on-going protest camp on Palace Green.

An anonymous union member and one of the invited speakers told journalists that the university had chosen not to use the police to force the protestors to move.

[34][35][36][37] The rescheduled debate was held that November in a lecture theatre in the university's Elvet Riverside complex, with one protestor arrested at the entrance to the Pemberton Buildings (before the change of venue was made known) and later released without charge.

However, Durham Union stated that the university had complied with its free speech duties by providing them with an alternative venue.