Michael Heseltine walks out of 'disgraceful' Oxford University debate

The Conservative Lord had been scheduled to speak about the EU on Thursday but was made to wait as students instead argued over the internal politics.

Serving under Margaret Thatcher and John Major in the Tory governments of the 1980s and 1990s, Lord Heseltine eventually became the Deputy Prime Minister in 1995.

He was created a life peer in 2001 and has remained vocally critical of Brexit and Boris Johnson following the 2016 Brexit referendum result.

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Lord Heseltine was due to speak at the Oxford Union. (Image: Andrew Cowan / NQ Archive)

Despite a lifetime in politics and an abundance of experience, Lord Heseltine was forced to wait on the sidelines as the internal debate continued.

Speaking to The Times, he said: “I said to the president that I thought this was out of control and I left.

“It is a disgraceful disrespect to invite people to come, and then hijack proceedings.”

The 91-year-old Tory grandee left without delivering his speech on Britain’s role in Europe as students engaged in an hour-long row about identity politics and society rules.

Lord Heseltine joined the University of Oxford as a student in 1951, to study philosophy, politics and economics at Pembroke College.

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Previously speaking at Oxford. (Image: Roger Askew / NQ Archive)

At the end of the summer term in 1954, Heseltine was elected President of the Oxford Union for Michaelmas term.

The Oxford Mail has approached Oxford Union for comment.

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