The FCS was then broken up by the Chairman of the Conservative Party, Norman Tebbit, after one of its members had accused previous former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan of war crimes in extraditing Cossacks to the Soviet Union.
The organisation was originally founded as the Federation of University Conservative and Unionists Associations (FUCUA) in January 1930 with Col. John Buchan MP[1] (later Lord Tweedsmuir and Governor General of Canada) as its first President.
In its last years, the FCS, perhaps reflecting the debate within the Conservative party of the 1980s and the generally fractious nature of student politics, was notably prone to factionalism.
It was linked with traditional British nationalism, an isolationist posture in relation to foreign affairs, opposition (as espoused by Enoch Powell) to immigration, scepticism about liberal economics, and staunch support for the Union.
Its overall dominance is illustrated by the passage of a libertarian motion in favour of free migration at the Leicester conference, shortly before the demise of the FCS, which was opposed by both the wet and the authoritarian factions.
[10] Under Glendening, elected Chairman in 1984, the FCS became more controversial than ever as it embraced social liberalism in addition to the already established endorsement of economic libertarianism; issues such as supporting the legalisation of drugs were no longer taboo.
[7] Despite a relatively high number of supporters and control of some large student bodies, they only once gained influence in the national federation after 1980, through a controversial last minute alliance with the authoritarian faction in 1983.
[18] Although it was clear that some damage was done, the so-called riot was vastly exaggerated, the final bill for repairs that the University presented came to under £20, and there would not be enough evidence to close the FCS as the then Party Chairman John Selwyn Gummer wanted.
"[20] In The Observer, Toby Young wrote: "As nights of mob terror go, last Monday's party at the Federation of Conservative Students' Conference was pretty tame".
[21] Both Young and Sir Alfred Sherman believed that Gummer's actions were motivated by his opposition to the libertarian ideology of some of the FCS' members which closely resembled some of Mrs Thatcher's personal beliefs.
[22] Tim Hames and Nick Robinson later admitted that the bill presented for damage was less than £20,[23] and that the media reports were as a result of an "astute spinning operation" by Wet delegates from the University of Oxford, who "directed journalists to students who offered harrowing accounts of the boorish behaviour of libertarian activists.