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Bullingdon Club

solihp

9

,,

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 1

oriel historian

2

It does survive and they seem to think it's acceptable to go around smashing up pubs and the like. Utter morons. But, y'know, if you go to Eton and are a Tory then it's called 'eccentric', if they were working class I suspect an ASBO would have been slapped on them. Confer:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/12/03/nsesh03.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/12/03/ixhome.html

http://www.oxfordstudent.com/ht2005wk0/News/bullingdon_brawl_ringleader_is_princess_diana's_nephew

By the way, if you google "Bullingdon Club Smash Pub" that'll give you enough stuff on them. And people actually are gonna vote for Boris Johnson to be London Mayor? Having a larff.

Reply 2

solihp

OP

9

oriel historian

It does survive and they seem to think it's acceptable to go around smashing up pubs and the like. Utter morons. But, y'know, if you go to Eton and are a Tory then it's called 'eccentric', if they were working class I suspect an ASBO would have been slapped on them. Confer:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/12/03/nsesh03.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/12/03/ixhome.html

http://www.oxfordstudent.com/ht2005wk0/News/bullingdon_brawl_ringleader_is_princess_diana's_nephew

By the way, if you google "Bullingdon Club Smash Pub" that'll give you enough stuff on them. And people actually are gonna vote for Boris Johnson to be London Mayor? Having a larff.

Scum! Is it public knowledge who's a member or is it all very secret?

Reply 3

Turdburger

16

To be honest, I think Boris a posh old fool, but anyone but Ken Livingstone.

Reply 4

Wangers

16

Turdburger

To be honest, I think Boris a posh old fool, but anyone but Ken Livingstone.

Whats wrong with Ken? Secondly, I know Boris is portrayed as a 'pet idiot', but how much is he actually a tool and how much is just the usual political bismirching tactics?

Reply 5

solihp

OP

9

Wangers

Whats wrong with Ken? Secondly, I know Boris is portrayed as a 'pet idiot', but how much is he actually a tool and how much is just the usual political bismirching tactics?

Reply 6

caustic87

3

It does exist, but I don't think they've smashed anything in a while... I also don't know anyone who is a member, but that's probably my social circles. I'm sure I read somewhere that they were having trouble recruiting "suitable" freshers these days.

Organisations like this certainly don't dominate Oxford's social scene - barely anyone is a member, and nobody really cares what they do.

Reply 7

Huw Davies

11

I heard that they were down to single figures, and I've definitely not heard of their doing anything in my time here (you'd hear about it if they did, it's student paper gold).

http://www.oxfordstudent.com/ht2006wk0/Features/smashing_job_chaps:_exclusive_inside_look_at_bullingdon_club

Reply 8

solihp

OP

9

Where does all the membership money go?!

Reply 9

Old Timer

They are still around, but not an issue for anyone who's not a member.

Reply 10

thomasjtl

9

You can see a photo of members from '92 through a window near my house - i've occasionally wondered if there might be anyone in it- rather difficult to get a good look discretely, though.

Reply 11

Turdburger

16

Where does all the membership money go?!

Paying for when they trash place?? And their food and alcohol??

Reply 12

trina

1

With my law student hat on I can tell you that there are legal rules about how any money left at the end will be divided (provided that the club is a legal entity).

Although the Bullingdon is a lot more low profile than it was, I doubt it's gone completely. Personally I think that people's reaction to the fact the David Cameron was a member are the most irritating. Somehow it's accepted as a reasonable thing for him to have done when he was younger, but i fail to see why.
I'm probably less irritated by the fact that Boris Johnson was a member
a) because I'm not a Londoner so don't really care about the mayoral elections
b) because Boris comes accross as a posh public school boy anyway
c) because Cameron is attempting to come accross as somebody with a social conscience.

Reply 13

thomasjtl

9

while, i get the impression that the society has for a long time been for those with a money to sense quotient of at least 52.1, i'm not so sure that they always went around trashing pubs and otherwise being antisocial- there seems to be a couple of well highlighted incidents, but that behaviour might not be the norm. (or at least that's the hope i cling to, considering it's quite possible cameron could be the next PM- boris i'm less worried about).

I think i saw two guys wearing those tailcoats one week last term- might be mistaken but would indicate they are indeed still active.

Reply 14

Athena

6

Guys, if you want to debate the mayoral elections, take it to GD...

Reply 15

Peter_The_Great

4

The Bullingdon Club still exists, but essentially in name only. There are four members left at the moment, and their names aren't that much of a secret if you can be bothered to ask around. Rahs in tailcoats running around the town are usually OUCA members thinking they'd like to be in the BC, but aren't.

Other clubs like the Assassins and Piers Gaveston are more popular, but mostly cater to your typical coked up rah. The main secret society event is PGs' big termly party, held at a secret location in the middle of nowhere and attended by a few prominent socialites, which usually descends into a sex and drugs orgy. It's not hard to go along and see it if you have a car and know someone on the committee.

Reply 16

cpchem

14

thomasjtl

while, i get the impression that the society has for a long time been for those with a money to sense quotient of at least 52.1, i'm not so sure that they always went around trashing pubs and otherwise being antisocial- there seems to be a couple of well highlighted incidents, but that behaviour might not be the norm. (or at least that's the hope i cling to, considering it's quite possible cameron could be the next PM- boris i'm less worried about).

I think i saw two guys wearing those tailcoats one week last term- might be mistaken but would indicate they are indeed still active.

I think I saw two of them flailing along Broad Street in eighth. I couldn't help but hope they'd fall flat on their faces.

Reply 17

RawJoh1

14

solihp

I have just been reading about the Bullingdon Club; I initially stumbled upon after reading up on David Cameron (one of his aides came to speak at my school so I wanted to get some dirt on him). Turns out Boris and George Osborne were once members, amongst a few other familiar faces. I was just rather interested: is stuff like this still prevalent in Oxford? This isn't meant to incite another class discussion, it just seems an ancient relic and I wondered whether it was likely to have survived. If it was around would any non-members even be aware of it? Just curious.