OULC was founded in 1913,[1] stating is aim as being "to rally progressive members of the University to the support of Liberal principles".
[4] At first occupying upstairs club rooms on the corner of Cornmarket Street and George Street, which were open to members for most of the day, OULC was modelled on the usual pattern of gentlemen's clubs of the day, before the arrival of the First World War and the general reduction in the number of students in residence at Oxford.
[7] In Hilary term 1935, Frank Byers was President of OULC, Harold Wilson Treasurer, and Raymond Walton Secretary.
However, by this point OULC had become more of a social club than a political one, with its activities including dinners, parties, dances, and even balls.
[3] Political upheavals in the late 1970s, and then the emergence of the Oxford University Social Democrats in 1981, led to a fall in the number of OULC members.