It’s the election drama obsessing much of Westminster. No, not Donald v Kamala but rather the race to be Chancellor of the University of Oxford. The ten-month slug-fest began back in February when incumbent Chris Patten announced his intention to retire after 20 years. An early attempt to vet candidates by committee was blocked after claims of a ‘stitch up’, with 38 names eventually going forward to the first ballot. Sadly Imran Khan didn’t make the cut…
On Monday, the final five for the second ballot were named: peers William Hague, Peter Mandelson and Jan Royall alongside ex-MP Dominic Grieve and Elish Angiolini, who led the Everard inquiry. Yet four days on after that result, there is still no word about when the breakdown of votes will be announced. Mr S has repeatedly asked the University of Oxford but, alas, there has been no reply.
The silence has prompted great disquiet among many in the Oxford community. One graduate who voted in the first round grumbled to Mr S ‘It’s fundamental to a democratic process that one publishes the results of the ballot’ adding ‘it is quite important to help rank ones’ preferences.’ Neil O’Brien MP, the shadow education minister, told The Spectator: ‘This seems like a very strange thing. You would think that in a democratic election being able to find the results is pretty crucial.’
One of the eliminated candidates, Matthew Firth, has taken to Facebook to complain. He says that he has received an email from university authorities claiming that:
We will not be releasing any information on rankings or vote share on the first round at this point so as not to influence the second round of the election.
Frith adds that he is yet to hear from the Vice Chancellor’s Office about the lack of democratic transaprency. Steerpike understands that members of Oxford’s Council are also unhappy at being ‘kept in the dark’. So much for all that enlightenment promised to students eh?
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