The 2024 University of Oxford election for the position of Chancellor became necessary upon the resignation of the incumbent Chancellor, Chris Patten, to take effect at the end of the Trinity term of 2024.
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Vacancy
Patten had been elected as Chancellor of the University of Oxford in March 2003. In February 2024, he announced in a letter to the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Irene Tracey, that he would retire as Chancellor at the end of the academic year, after twenty-one years in post.[1]
In resigning, Patten quoted from the University of Oxford's statutes of 2002: "the Chancellor shall be elected by Convocation and shall hold office during his or her life or until his or her resignation."[1]
Process
To stand for election, a candidate needs to be nominated by fifty members of the university's Convocation. The election of 2024 will be the first to take place on the Internet. At all previous elections, ballots needed to be cast in person in Oxford.[2][3]
Apart from the basic rules established by its Statutes, the university has stated that "The process and timetable for the election of the Chancellor by members of the University's Convocation will be announced in due course."[4][5]
Possible candidates
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On 7 February 2024, The Daily Telegraph reported that the former Conservative minister Rory Stewart, of Balliol College, had emerged as front runner in the election with the bookmaker William Hill.[2] By chance, Chris Patten and his two predecessors, Harold Macmillan and Roy Jenkins, were also Balliol men.[6]
Other potential candidates have been reported as former British prime ministers Theresa May, Tony Blair, and Boris Johnson, and Elish Angiolini, Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford, a pro-vice-chancellor of the University and chair of the Angiolini Inquiry.[2][7] All of these are members of the University of Oxford,[8][2] although this qualification is not strictly required, and in principle anyone can be nominated.[2]
On 7 February 2024, William Hill had Stewart favourite in the betting odds at 5/6, May at 7/4, Blair at 4/1, Johnson at 13/2, and Khan at 10/1.[9]
On 5 March 2024, the Evening Standard reported that a number of academics were considering supporting Angiolini as an alternative to Stewart, noting that she was not a politician and that she would be the first woman ever to hold the post. At this point, Stewart had not announced definitely that he would stand, but had said "it is a very interesting idea and an amazing role”.[10]
Creation of Chancellor’s Election Committee
On 22 March 2024, the University announced changes to its regulations governing the election of a new Chancellor, which were to take effect on 5 April 2024. Instead of any candidate being entitled to stand, subject to being nominated by fifty electors, a new Chancellor’s Election Committee will remove nominated candidates from the election process whom it does not consider "suitable".[5]
The Committee will decide the criteria for suitability and may disclose what they are. It will "have due regard to the principles of equality and diversity".[5][11]
If the Committee finds only one candidate suitable, it may declare that person to be elected unopposed or may choose to re-open the nominations.[5]
If in a contested election the voting is tied, the Chairman of the Committee will decide between the candidates with an equal number of votes.[5][11]
The members of the Committee are the High Steward, currently Lord Reed of Allermuir, who is designated to chair the Committee ex officio; the Vice-Chancellor, and other "representatives from across the collegiate University and its council".[5] These are: one person appointed by the University Council from among its external members; two members of the Council appointed by it from among its members; one member of Congregation appointed by the Gardens, Libraries and Museums, University administrative Services, and the Department for continuing Education; one member of Congregation appointed by each of the divisional boards; the early career research staff representative who attends the Council; and the chair of the conference of colleges. The Committee may also co-opt one or two other members.[11]
Neil O'Brien MP, a University graduate and member of Christ Church, commented the same day "A stitch-up in Oxford: with no public discussion the University has decided to move away from democracy when choosing its next Chancellor."[12][13] An article in The Daily Telegraph the next day quoted his "stitch-up" comment and also an unnamed college don who had told the newspaper he saw the new Committee as an "undemocratic, Politburo-style election approach”. Dr Yuan Zi Zhou, a university lecturer in politics, commented that the changing of the rules "illustrates the control freak tendencies of modern academic managers". The removal of duly nominated candidates was believed to be unprecedented in such elections in the United Kingdom.[14]
On 25 March the Evening Standard quoted an anonymous "senior cabinet minister" as saying "We can’t have a stitch-up. The next chancellor must be selected by the same democratic process as the last one." It reported that "another senior government source", also anonymous, had commented "It is all about this performative obsession with equality and diversity".[15] In a statement 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."[15]
On 28 March, a letter from Vice-chancellor Irene Tracey appeared in The Times defending the changes and claiming "democracy is alive and well at Oxford".[16]
On 30 March, The Sunday Telegraph claimed to have seen a leaked email showing that the intended purpose of the Committee was "to stop politicians becoming chancellor". Damian Green, the former de facto deputy prime minister and a friend of Theresa May from their days at the University of Oxford, described the criteria as “a momentous and ill-advised change which at the very least should have been consulted on”.[17]
Proposed limit to term of office
Until 2024, all Oxford chancellors had been elected for life. A further function given to the new Chancellor's Election Committee is to make a recommendation to the University Council to fix a term of office for the Chancellor. This will need to be decided upon by the Council.[11]
The purpose of this change was stated as "to prevent the coincidence of a newly appointed Vice-Chancellor and a new elected Chancellor."[18]