The two-day WESMUN conference got off to the most solid of starts, with guest speaker, Sir Vince Cable, opening proceedings with his thoughts on how we might keep peace in the 21st century — the main theme of the whole event.

Raaghav (Remove, CC) then welcomed delegates in his role as joint Secretary General, noting the significance of the event’s location. He said: “Westminster has a deep connection to international diplomacy. Just across the street, at Methodist Central Hall, the very first General Assembly of the United Nations was held 79 years ago — a landmark moment in global cooperation, in a building almost all of you would have passed on your way here today. On top of that, many of the early meetings of the UN and the Security Council were held in Church House, just outside the arch you walked through today.”

With the event officially opened by the WESMUN Secretaries General, the usual mix of debate and diplomatic bartering commenced, with 165 delegates from schools across London and beyond, representing 30 different nations.

The committees soon got into full swing, with interesting results: on the Security Council there was gossip, a French veto, and just a single resolution passed; at Social, Humanitarian and Cultural, there were passionate speeches on child soliders and assisted dying; the Economic and Financial committee saw a number of nationalistic speeches; there was fruitful discussion, poetry and a Brazilian resolution at Disarmament and International Security; the plight of marginalised peoples was raised at Human Rights; and at Environment there were an impressive two resolutions passed, but unfortunately for the city of Birmingham, it was identified as a potential nuclear waste dump!

Whilst the debate was often light-hearted, the event’s theme of peace was alway prominent. Joint General Secretary, Haroun (Remove, AHH) said: “This year’s conference was designed to focus on keeping peace in the 21st century. This is particularly apt, in the context of novel threats to traditional Western relationships, driven by isolationism and economic hardship, a revival of historic tensions due to an inability to solve global conflicts or end side-taking alliances, and the existence of ectopic flashpoints of conflict which themselves serve as pivots for developing regional problems into international ones.”

Various nations were praised for their committee work, but following the full General Assembly (at which there was an emergency debate on the threat of invasion of Greenland), committee chairs were in agreement that the leading team was from Godolphin & Latymer School, having shown ‘exemplary diplomacy and excellent contributions’.

Following the event, Haroun said: “We’d like to take this opportunity to recognise the fantastic standard set across the conference. Every single one of the chairs was delighted at not only the level of engagement in each committee, but the quality provided in each. Whilst of course chairs recognised that there were experienced delegates in each committee, they were equally pleased to see the less confident gradually find their voice and play an increasing and important role in each conference, which will undoubtedly serve them in the future and is essentially what this whole conference is about.”

Raaghav added: “WESMUN 2025 was an amazing mix of serious debate and unexpected chaos and. From heated committee discussions to hilarious gossip boxes, every room had its fair share of drama. The theme, Keeping Peace in the 21st Century, was more relevant than ever, helping to focus discussions on global stability in the current geopolitical context. Beyond the resolutions and impassioned speeches, the real highlight of WESMUN for me was seeing the delegates, both novel and experienced, find their voices and express their views on global politics.”