A last-minute campaign to stop William Hague becoming the next Oxford University chancellor is being waged by Labour students as they aim to install the first ever Labour member in the role.
The battle to be the figurehead for one of Britain’s most prestigious institutions is shaping up to be a high-profile one following the imminent retirement of Chris Patten, the former Tory chairman who has occupied the post for the last 20 years.
Hague, the former foreign secretary, officially announced his candidacy last week. His main competitor for one of the most esteemed posts in British public life is likely to be Peter Mandelson, the Labour peer and former business secretary who has expressed an interest.
In a quest to prevent the role staying in Conservative hands, Labour students at the university are taking advantage of the fact that, for the first time, more than 250,000 Oxford graduates and staff can cast their ballot online.
It has prompted them to wage a social media and online campaign to reach sympathetic alumni and prompt them to sign up for a vote before Sunday’s deadline. Over the past fortnight, Labour students have sifted through archives to identify former society co-chairs, contacted alumni through social media platforms X and LinkedIn, and sent out dozens of WhatsApp messages with the link to register.
They have also reached out to Labour MPs who attended Oxford, who are understood to have been happy to help. Everyone contacted has been asked to pass on the message to a handful of fellow former students. It means the electorate could grow substantially from the 6,000 people who reportedly cast a vote when the position last came up in 2003.
While the former Labour chancellor and home secretary Roy Jenkins occupied the role before Patten, he took it on years after leaving the party for the SDP and held it while in the Lords as a Liberal Democrat peer.
The Labour effort came amid concerns that any Conservative campaign, with longstanding alumni networks, would pull ahead in registrations. “The chancellorship of Oxford University has been dominated by retired Conservative politicians in almost every election for the last 200 years,” said Tom Taborn, co-chair of Oxford University Labour Club. “This year it could be different.“For the first time, there will be online voting, meaning all alumni can have their say, no matter where they are or what career path they’ve chosen to pursue. It also means this could be the first time there is a real chance that Oxford University could elect a Labour chancellor.”
Though the role of chancellor is largely ceremonial, the club said thatthe next incumbent could be instrumental in promoting higher education to a sympathetic government and in changing the rhetoric towards universities.
“The role of chancellor isn’t just symbolic they are representative of students, alumni and academics,” said Taborn. “The things that are important to us as students, and we hope to alumni too – a more equal Oxford and a thriving higher education sector – would be priorities for a Labour chancellor.
The contest comes as universities report needing more funding, citing financial difficulties due to factors such as frozen tuition fees and a decline in international student applications. According to the Office for Students, 40% of English universities are likely to face deficits and risk closure.
Though the chancellorship is not paid, the 800-year-old position is widely regarded as one of the most respected and coveted roles among senior members of the British establishment. Oliver Cromwell, the first Duke of Wellington, and prime ministers Lord Salisbury and Harold Macmillan are some of those who have occupied the post.
While Mandelson may be grateful for the support of Labour students now, he is unlikely to have enjoyed their backing during his own student days: as a teenager, he was an active member of the Young Communist League.
