The 2003 University of Oxford election for the position of Chancellor was called upon the death of the incumbent

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Roy Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...

on 5 January 2003.

Electorate

The

electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 * An electoral district An ...

consisted of all members of the

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

holding the rank of MA. Votes had to be cast in person at Oxford. To stand, a candidate had to be nominated by two MAs. It was the first such election to be held in which voters were not required to wear

academic dress Academic dress is a traditional form of clothing for academic settings, mainly tertiary (and sometimes secondary) education, worn mainly by those who have obtained a university degree (or similar), or hold a status that entitles them to assum ...

to vote. It was also the first election to use the

instant-runoff vote Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of Ranked voting, ranked preferential Electoral system, voting method. It uses a Majority rule, majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. It is commonly referr ...

, after the previous election by

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

in 1987 saw two conservative candidates (

Robert Blake, Baron Blake Robert Norman William Blake, Baron Blake, (23 December 1916 – 20 September 2003), was an English historian and peer. He is best known for his 1966 biography of Benjamin Disraeli, and for ''The Conservative Party from Peel to Churchill'', wh ...

and

Sir Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

) splitting the conservative vote at 2,500 each, allowing social democrat

Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...

to win with 3,500 votes.

Candidates

Four candidates were nominated: *

Lord Bingham of Cornhill Sir Thomas Henry Bingham, Baron Bingham of Cornhill, (13 October 193311 September 2010), was an eminent British judge who was successively Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice and Senior Law Lord. He was described as the greatest lawyer of ...

, 69, senior

Law Lord Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

, former Lord Chief Justice and former Master of the Rolls * Lord Neill of Bladen QC, 76, former Warden of All Souls, former

Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford is the chief executive and leader of the University of Oxford. The following people have been vice-chancellors of the University of Oxford (formally known as The Right Worshipful the Vice-Chancel ...

, and former Chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life *

Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, (; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life pe ...

, 58, European Union Commissioner for external affairs, former cabinet minister and last

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

* Sandi Toksvig, 44,

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

and broadcaster

The campaign

For much of the race, Chris Patten was generally considered to be the front-runner, due to his high profile as the last Governor of Hong Kong. The bookmaker William Hill offered odds of 7/4 for Mr Patten, 9/4 for Lord Bingham, 11/4 for Lord Neill, and 3/1 for Toksvig. Sandi Toksvig was the candidate most vociferously opposed to the government's proposed

top-up fees Tuition fees were first introduced across the entire United Kingdom in September 1998 under the Premiership of Tony Blair, Labour government of Tony Blair to fund tuition for undergraduate and postgraduate certificate students at universities; s ...

, and so received the endorsement of the

Oxford University Student Union The Oxford University Student Union is the official students' union of the University of Oxford. It is better known in Oxford under the branding Oxford SU or by its previous name of OUSU. It exists to represent Oxford University students in t ...

. However, as most of the union's members were undergraduates, they did not have a vote in the election itself. Lord Neill also declared himself opposed to top-up fees, but said in his candidates' statement that he preferred not to make this the basis of his campaign.

Result

Polling ran over two days, on 14 and 15 March 2003. The results went to two rounds before one candidate secured more than 50% of the vote.

First round

Second round

Notes

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2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2003 elections in the United Kingdom 2003 in England 2000s in Oxford