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The John Smith Memorial Mace (known between 1954 and 1995 as the Observer Mace) is the foremost student debating competition in the Islands of the North Atlantic; more specifically, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

It was founded as the Observer Mace in 1954 by British journalist Kenneth Harris and sponsored by the Observer newspaper until 1995. The English-Speaking Union has overseen the competition since 1993. In practice, much of the organisational work is done by regional conveners.

The competition was held annually except in 1977, when no tournament was organised. The most successful institution is the Glasgow University Union, the first of whose fifteen wins was in 1955, the second year of the competition; the most recent was in 1995.

Recent winners of the Mace include Lincoln's Inn, Cambridge University, University College Cork[1], and University College Dublin.

The International Final

The International Final is held in Spring. There are four places in the final, awarded to the English, Scottish and Irish regional champions. The fourth place was awarded in a repechage for several years but in recent years the Welsh champions rejoined the competition, at which time speeches were reduced from ten to nine minutes long.

Notable winners

The competition has been named since 1995 in honour of John Smith, former leader of the Labour Party, and winner of the Mace for Glasgow University Union in 1962. Other former winners include Charles Kennedy, Donald Dewar, Lord Hunt of Wirral and Professor Anthony Clare.

References

• Hutton, Will (July 3, 2005). "The journalist who saved The Observer. Appreciation: Kenneth Harris.", The Observer. 
• List of Mace winners on britishdebate.com
• http://flynn.debating.net/ List of past winners