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.
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