between
Bedford College or Richmond College and Goldsmiths' College or Wye College
Commentator, Douglas Fleming
From the Union Assembly Hall, London
The University of London inter-collegiate debating championship was first held in 1934 and was an annual event unol the outbreak of war in 1939. It was started again in 1947, since when it has been won three times by King's College and once by Goldsmiths' College (in 1949, when the final was broadcast in the Third Programme). This year King's College was eliminated by Richmond, entering the championship for the first time.
The championship is run on a knock-out basis, teams from competing colleges taking part in a series of heats. Each team consists of a proposer and a seconder, and three speeches from the floor are allowed to each side (points being awarded for principal speakers, seconders, floor speakers, and summing-up). Six motions from a secret list approved by the debates committee arc put forward for each heat, and the final choice is decided by lot only fifteen minutes before the debate begins.