This page contains information on the Andrew John Williamson Memorial Trust.
On 20th April 1982, the Andrew John Williamson Memorial Trust was created by his parents in memory of Andrew Williamson, a Politics student at the University of Stirling, who had tragically died in 1981. The Trust was established for:
‘the promotion of human welfare through the education of the public in the understanding, appreciation and development of political thought and ideas, and without prejudice to the foregoing generality‘
The Trust supports two main activities:
1. The Williamson Lecture
The Andrew John Williamson Memorial Lecture was established in 1983 with the aim of bringing a high-profile political speaker to the University each year to speak on a theme of contemporary political interest.
The 2024 lecture – ‘Populism in a Parliamentary Democracy’ – was delivered by the Right Hon. David Gauke on Thursday 18 April 2024
David Gauke is a British political commentator, solicitor and former politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Hertfordshire from 2005 to 2019. He served in the Cameron Government as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from 2010 to 2014 and Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 2014 to 2016. During the formation of the May Government in July 2016, he was appointed to the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, where he remained until being appointed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in 2017. Gauke was appointed Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor in January 2018. He resigned on 24 July 2019 following the Conservative Party leadership election.
See also the recorded 2023 lecture by Alistair Campbell. The University’s coverage of the event – “You have to change this” – recounts Campbell’s hope for young people (including Stirling students) to lead new action on politics, from protest to seeking election. The lecture is introduced by Dr James Naughtie, former Chancellor of the University of Stirling and presenter of the 2014 Williamson Lecture, who provides a short history of the Andrew John Williamson Memorial Trust:
2. Travel scholarships for students of Political Studies at the University of Stirling
Andrew’s parents sought to keep his memory alive by offering a helping hand to other students studying Politics who might wish to travel in order to pursue an interest of a political nature. The scholarship is open to all students in semester 6 of their study taking a single or combined undergraduate degree in Politics, International Politics, or PPE (although the call for proposals for 2024 has now closed).
Edited by Paul Cairney 30.4.24