The 1981 University of London election for the position of Chancellor was called upon when the incumbent

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of K ...

announced in December 1980 that she was retiring from the position. It was the first occasion in the university's history when the position was formally contested.

Electorate and rules

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 ...

consisted of the entire graduate body of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, as assembled in

Convocation A convocation (from the Latin ''wikt:convocare, convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:ἐκκλησία, ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a specia ...

, a right secured in 1898. Anyone holding a University of London degree and who had paid a £5 registration fee was entitled to vote, making for a total electorate of around 83,000. To be nominated a candidate required the signature of ten members of Convocation. In the event of only one candidate standing they would be declared elected '' nem con''. If more than one candidate stood, a postal ballot would be conducted.

Candidates

Nominations closed on 22 December 1980. The following candidates were nominated: * The Princess Anne, only daughter of

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She had been queen regnant of 32 sover ...

and granddaughter of

The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was also ...

. * Jack Jones, former General Secretary of the

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general union, general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland—where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU)—with 900 ...

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, anti-

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

activist, a leader of the African National Congress and convicted prisoner in

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; graduate of the University, having completed an LLB through the External Programme whilst in prison.

Course of the election

There was much criticism voiced in the press by graduates about the way in which the election was handled. Initially Princess Anne was the only candidate nominated, leading to some criticism amongst graduates, even though every previous Chancellor had been elected unopposed. Several expressed dismay that the election had been called at very short notice (when a period of up to six months was permissible under the regulations) and at a time when the postal service was slower than usual, due to the extra demands of

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, making it harder to get the ten signatures together to stand. The University's standing committee came in for especial criticism for the deadlines it set. At the formal meeting of Convocation two motions were passed regarding the way the election had been conducted. The university's standing committee was censured for "unseemly and unbecoming haste" in the first motion, whilst the second motion demanded that in future there be a minimum of three months between the resignation/death of the Chancellor and the close of nominations.

Result

The deadline for the return of ballots was 14 February. Originally the results of the election were due to be declared on 16 February. However, due to a higher than expected number of ballot papers being returned, the declaration was delayed by a day. In total some 42,212 ballot papers were submitted, in contrast to the last contested election by Convocation in which only 5,083 ballots were returned for the position of chairperson. The results were as follows:

Notes

{{reflist *Election 1981 London 1981 1981 elections in the United Kingdom University of London Chancellor Election Anne, Princess Royal February 1981 in Europe Non-partisan elections