University of Oxford gets 160th chancellor in former conservative leader Lord William Hague

The former Tory leader is due to make his first speech as the university’s chancellor since winning the election in November.

Former Conservative leader Lord William Hague will be formally admitted as the 160th Chancellor of the University of Oxford. A ceremony will be held at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford on Wednesday to inaugurate Lord Hague.

Lord William Hague was elected as the next chancellor of the University of Oxford (The Office of William Hague/PA)

Alumni, academics and senior university figures will turn out in regalia for the ceremonial procession. Lord Hague won the election for the role in November, beating Sarah Everard Inquiry chief Lady Elish Angiolini and Labour peer Lord Peter Mandelson.

The election was called after Lord Chris Patten announced his retirement after more than 20 years in the position in February last year. Lord Hague, who will serve for a term of 10 years, is due to make his first speech as the university’s chancellor on Wednesday morning. Oxford staff and alumni voted online for the first time to elect the chancellor – a post which has been in place at the institution for at least 800 years. The chancellor is the titular head of the university and presides over key ceremonies.

They also undertake advocacy, advisory and fundraising work, acting as an ambassador for the university at a range of events, and they chair the committee for the selection of the vice-chancellor. In the final round of voting, Lord Hague received 12,609 votes, 1,603 more than second-placed candidate Lady Angiolini, chairwoman of the inquiry into Sarah Everard’s killer Wayne Couzens. Lady Angiolini, outgoing principal of St Hugh’s College Oxford, and Baroness Jan Royall, outgoing principal of Somerville College Oxford, had both hoped to become Oxford’s first female chancellor.

Labour grandee Lord Mandelson and former Conservative attorney general Dominic Grieve were also among the final five candidates. Lord Hague graduated from Magdalen College Oxford in 1982, where he studied philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) and was president of the Oxford Union. He was leader of the Conservative Party between 1997 and 2001 and Foreign Secretary between 2010 and 2014.

In his candidate statement to be chancellor, Lord Hague highlighted the importance of freedom of speech in higher education. He also warned in his campaign manifesto that the UK was “heading for a crisis” over higher education funding and he said solutions were needed for how the state finances universities.