Gina Miller, the pre-eminent anti-Brexit campaigner, has made the final shortlist of candidates to be the new chancellor of Cambridge University. Running with her, Sandi Toksvig, a popular presenter, makes the cut. That consequential election will end with a decision, expected some time during the week starting July 21.
Miller is known for her work in successfully challenging Brexit and her advocacy for government transparency. Toksvig has had an accomplished and varied career as a broadcaster. She has hosted other hugely successful shows like The Great British Bake Off and QI. She co-founded her country’s Women’s Equality Party, which further illustrates her dedication to serving as a gender equality champion.
All of the other candidates are equally exceptional. Lord Christopher Smith, Labour peer and former minister Chris Smith has been master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, since 2015. Our speaker, Dr. Mohamed El-Erian, one of the world’s most respected economists, is president of Queens’ College, Cambridge.
More than 34,500 alumni and current senior academic and professional staff have enrolled to vote online in this critical election. The unusual selection process is indicative of the 210-year-old university’s long-standing tradition of including its entire community in leadership decisions.
As she regaled us with her own remarkable history of the chancellorship at Cambridge, she dropped an interesting tidbit. She added in passing that Richard of Wetheringsett was the first recorded chancellor, from 1215-1232. She further remarked on the historical significance of the role: “After that, we have had a plethora of other Richards, many Johns and an awful lot of Stephens – after over 800 years I wonder if it isn’t time for a change?”
The new chancellor’s selection is crucial for steering the university through choppy waters ahead. Whoever emerges from that process, the chancellor will be joining an extraordinary lineage of chancellors at Cambridge.
