‘A Labour Oxford Chancellor could be transformative for the university sector’

Chris Patten, the former Conservative minister, has retired as Chancellor of Oxford University, triggering an election for the post. The post has never been won by a Labour figure, although the once Labour minister Roy Jenkins held the post as a Liberal Democrat when there were two Tory contestants and he came through the middle. 

This will be the first year that the Chancellor will be elected online, rather than electors having to come to the University to vote. This means that this year the electorate will increase from the 6,000 who have participated in person to the potentially 250,000-strong graduate population of Oxford.

The deadline for Oxford graduates to register to vote is this Sunday, sparking fears that Conservative campaigns, with long-standing alumni networks, will pull ahead in registrations. Graduates may register online and do not need their alumni number to do so.

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The election is traditionally fought between competing public figures – in the past Conservative vs Liberal – although one internal ‘University’ candidate normally puts their name forward.

Sky News has reported that Peter Mandelson and William Hague have made their interest known along with Elish Angiolini, principal of St Hugh’s College. Other possible candidates include Imran Khan, the former Pakistan Prime Minister, and Reverend Matthew Firth, a member of the Free Church of England standing on an ‘anti-woke’ platform. 

A Labour Chancellor could promote higher education reform

Although Conservative candidates have been successful in seven out of the nine contests since the beginning of the last century, this year may be different. The significantly widened electorate means that old assumptions are not so strong.

The Labour Party’s dominance of the under-40 vote, combined with the anger of recent graduates over tuition fee and student loan rises, and the previous government’s attacks on universities, mean that Conservative candidates may face a tougher battle. 

The contest is likely to focus on the sector’s financial sustainability, maintenance grants and student support, admissions processes and regional inequality. Mandelson’s recent column in The Times hit back at right-wing attacks on universities and argued that Keir Starmer’s growth mission requires a thriving university sector. Fringe candidates are likely to focus on ‘culture war’ issues, seeking to turn the contest into a battle about freedom of speech. 

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While the Chancellorship is largely a symbolic, ceremonial role, a Labour Chancellor could argue in favour of reform. Funding for the sector, which has been tightly squeezed in recent years, needs to change as does a fresh influx of cash from the philanthropic sector and industrial sponsorship of research.

The combination of a Labour Oxford Chancellor and a Labour government could also change the tone of the wider debate around universities. While the previous government took a broadly hostile approach to the sector, the shelving of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act is an indication of the new government’s increasingly rational stance. A new Chancellor, alongside a new government, could promote higher education reform for the first time in 14 years. 

The new Chancellor could be a powerful advocate for students

The New Labour years saw a dramatic increase in university participation as part of the shift to a service-led economy. In his Times column, Mandelson made the argument for more, rather than fewer, people in tertiary education in which universities play an important part.

In the climate of attacks on ‘mickey mouse’ degrees and ‘hyper-liberal’ universities, it is a brave argument to make. If he takes up the role, the country could see a new voice for the further expansion and quality of university education, changing the debate in a positive direction. 

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The Chancellorship also has a representative purpose. Student interests, which have been frequently sidelined by culture-war clamour, could gain a powerful advocate. A Chancellor focused on representing students, academic staff and alumni, unencumbered by ideological gripes and preoccupations, could act as a voice for a sector which has often had difficulty defending itself from external attacks. 

Any Oxford graduates who wish to participate in the election have until Sunday using this link.

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