New Chancellor for Cambridge University

Cambridge University elected a new Chancellor this week, HRH Prince Philip having stood down after thirty-five years. The Chancellor is the figure-head of the University, awards honorary degrees, is the public relations voice of the institution and is the guardian of its public image. He gets to wear a really great coat (black silk, gold, a hat to go with it and so on) when representing the university; oh, and there’s a big stick that comes with the hat and coat. No wonder HRH looks so happy.

Except for a three year stint by Field-Marshall Jan Smuts, Princes, Dukes, Earls, Marquises & Lords have held the role in unbroken line since Cromwell’s time. Chancellors are elected by the Senate of the University, a largish and eclectic bunch of people including HRH Prince Charles (I think) and me (I know!). Since all that is required to belong to the senate is to possess the right sort of degree (not just any of the collection please note) from Cambridge, my only claim to connection with royalty is shared by tens of thousands of others, but I degrees, I mean digress … again.

Candidates for the job need to be proposed by a group of fifty senators. So, the senate creates a nominating sub-committee made up half and half of the great and the good and what might be termed ordinary members. Lots of thinking goes into choosing the right sort of chap (there hasn’t been a female chancellor yet) as the official candidate and that’s supposed to be pretty well that as the election hasn’t been contested since circa 1850. No election needed. Lord Sainsbury, head of the food retailing family, was approached, wanted the job and was nominated.

Every city and many towns boast their Sainsbury’s supermarket and its stores have even been mentioned in popular song Chas & Dave's "Rabbit". Indeed the retail chain are about to build one in Cambridge itself. Now building a supermarket is a really good way to upset local shop-keepers. Enter Abdul Arain, a Cambridge grocer who got the support of fifty senators and thus a nomination for himself, as a protest against the new supermarket.

But it didn’t stop there. A renowned lawyer joined in and then up popped Brian Blessed, a well-known actor with perhaps the most physically powerful voice in Britain and a capable climber (three attempts at Everest). He can sing too. His face book campaign projected him as committed, dedicated and an enthusiastic potential ambassador for the University. He is also one of the least politically correct people in the universe. This is the candidate I’ll go for.

OK, so how do I vote? While the campaigns have been fought over the internet, senators have to go to the University senate house and vote in person – that’s the way it’s been done since 1246 or thereabouts. Even that’s not enough though, you can only get in to vote if you are wearing the gown of the degree that qualifies you as a senator. “Would that be the first time you’ve worn a dress to a public occasion?” a friend asked. “It’s not that sort of a gown” I had to explain.

I am somewhat ashamed to say that I did not take a flight from Beirut, never mind the taxis and trains needed to get to Cambridge from Heathrow. And that’s perhaps why the Blessed Brian did not get in. So I’m going to make a public plea – pamper us next time. Tradition is a fine thing, but, like moderation, should not be taken to excess. I mean, there’s a railway station in Cambridge, a motorway specially built to get there. And quite soon there’ll be a modern Sainsbury’s supermarket, not to mention a Sainsbury’s Chancellor.

So voting on-line isn’t going to be such a big step. I’d even wear my gown to vote and upload the event to YouTube!