The University of Oxford has been accused of taking “extraordinary” action to avoid a “male, pale” chancellor.
Ministers have warned the university against trying to “stitch up” the election for its next chancellor, who will succeed former cabinet minister Lord Patten of Barnes.
The university’s council has ruled that it will vet all candidates for the job, in a move that sources told The Times is akin to a communist-style “managed democracy”.
The new rules state the committee must have “due regard to the principles of equality and diversity.”
A senior cabinet minister told The Times: “We can’t have a stitch-up. The next chancellor must be selected by the same democratic process as the last one.”
Under the previous system anyone could go forward for election as long as they received the backing of at least 50 graduates or academics.
Another senior government source expressed concern that the university was looking to fix the election to appoint a "woke" candidate.
The source said: “It is all about this performative obsession with equality and diversity that you're seeing not just in this country but in the US too.
“But it cannot be right for the university to vet candidates standing for election."
Neil O'Brien, a former levelling-up minister, described the university’s move as "extraordinary", adding: “The university seems intent on imposing an eastern [European] bloc-style 'managed democracy' in which a small group will choose who, if anyone, is allowed to go forward for 'election'."
The position of Oxford chancellor dates from 1224, and since 1715 it has not been held by anyone other than a leading male politician of the era.
Those who have been mentioned as possible successors to Patten include the former Oxford graduates Sir Tony Blair and Rory Stewart.
Previous chancellors have included seven former prime ministers including the Duke of Wellington and Harold Macmillan. The role is largely ceremonial, with the most important function being to chairthe committee responsible for appointing the vice-chancellor who is responsible for the day-to-day running of the institution.
When Patten was elected in 2003, all those who wanted to vote were required to turn up in person at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford wearing full academic dress. About 8,000 former studentsparticipated.
This time there will be an online vote.
One senior figure close to the university said this was partly behind the move to vet potential candidates, as an online vote brought the risk "that you'll get a joke candidate and they end up winning". The source added: "I suspect this is designed to reduce that risk."
According to The Times, a source in the Department for Education said it would be monitoring the election "closely", adding: "We all know that universities have become a hotbed of wokeism gone mad. We don't want that to be the case here."
A spokesman for the university said: "The next chancellor will be elected by convocation — the body of university members and alumni — using an online platform. Eligibility will first be checked by the chancellor’s election committee against criteria agreed by council. The committee will be made up of representatives from across the collegiate university and its council.”
He added: “Announcements about applications will be made in due course.”
