Among them are Margaret Thatcher, Edward Heath, David Cameron, Theresa May, William Hague, Jeremy Hunt, Sir George Young, Ann Widdecombe, Jacob Rees-Mogg and the Earl of Dartmouth.
Thatcher and Heath served as presidents of the association, as did prominent British journalists Jonathan Aitken, William Rees-Mogg, Daniel Hannan and Nick Robinson.
Alexander Stafford (president, Michaelmas 2007) stood unsuccessfully for Holywell Ward in the 2008 Oxford City Council election, achieving an 8.2% swing for the Conservatives.
More recently, Poppy Stokes and OUCA president Maryam Ahmed stood for the Conservatives in the 2014 Oxford City Council Election in the Holywell and Carfax wards respectively.
Despite its 2,000 members, he said, "it was dominated by a patrician clique who preserved their power by preventing the membership at large from electing officers of the association.
Critchley and Michael Heseltine, defeated in their bids for OUCA office, set up a rival Conservative society, the Blue Ribbon Club.
Interest declined as the national party became more moderate, and the OUTRG voted to disband and merge with OUCA during Michaelmas term 2007.
He cited falling attendance and a belief that OUCA had "genuinely become more liberal", adding that the merger "will make debate between wings of the party much easier and more productive".
[8] OUCA's hosts a regular event called 'Port and Policy', which involves port-fuelled debate, with a mixture of serious and jovial motions.
The growth in attendance at Port and Policy was mentioned in a 2008 Financial Times article as possible evidence of growing popularity for the Conservatives among students.
It included footage from one of OUCA's Port and Policy meetings and an interview with Conservative party leader David Cameron.
As a result of the incident, two members were expelled from the national Conservative party,[20] and the Oxford Union banned OUCA from using its premises for hustings and in-camera events.
[30] On 25 February 2012 The Daily Telegraph reported that the association had had an unpaid debt of more than £1,200 in relation to a charity event held "in support of the Army Benevolent Fund at the Cavalry and Guards Club on Pall Mall in June 2009", which had not been settled until the beginning of 2012.
[31][32] On the 22 October 2021, Cherwell reported that several complaints of financial and interpersonal misconduct had been made to the disciplinary committee of OUCA against the then president, Kamran Ali.