With?only days to spare until nominations close for candidates looking to become the next chancellor of the University of Cambridge, the contest has so far been a noticeably lower-key affair than the University of Oxford¡¯s equivalent election last year.

Those putting themselves forward include a prominent anti-Brexit activist, an ex-BP boss and an outspoken astronomy professor but, while more contenders may emerge before the 2 May deadline to succeed David Sainsbury, the race so far lacks the colourful cast of characters that vied to replace the long-standing chancellor of Oxford, Chris Patten.

That hotly-fought battle was eventually won by William Hague, the former foreign secretary and one-time Conservative Party leader, who defeated fellow political heavyweights Peter Mandelson, David Willetts and Dominic Grieve. At one stage there were 38 candidates in the fray including former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, whose bid to stand from jail eventually failed.

Some might wonder if it matters who is chosen, given the role of cutting ribbons and handing out degrees is hardly the most pressing problem facing higher education at the moment.

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But the focus on the position ¨C and the high-profile people who have filled it ¨C has been utilised in the past to make a wider case for the higher education sector, with Patten himself seen as someone whose interventions helped universities make their case.

The ¡°role is still important¡±, insisted Nigel Thrift, former vice-chancellor at the University of Warwick. ¡°So far as I am concerned, a chancellor needs the following qualities: they need to be principled, they need to have public presence (speeches are still important), and they need to have an extensive contact network that they can (and will) leverage on behalf of the university.¡±

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At Cambridge, the three publicly declared candidates are John Browne, chief executive of BP from 1995 to 2006, Gina Miller, the businesswoman who staged various legal challenges to try to stop Brexit, and Wyn Evans, a Cambridge astrophysicist whose has campaigned against bullying in academia.

The university has retained a rule that Oxford dropped that insists those putting themselves forward must gain 50 nominations from alumni, which means the field of candidates was always likely to be much smaller.

However, Cambridge¡¯s first-past-the-post voting system ¨C compared with Oxford¡¯s two-stage process that saw five candidates progress to a second round ¨C means an outside candidate could prevail with relatively few votes in a split field; in 2011, the actor Brian Blessed, known for his roles in Flash Gordon and Blackadder, finished second only 1,500 votes behind Sainsbury a former Labour science minister who has donated more than ?100 million to the university.

The arrival of online voting ¨C which opens on 9 July ¨C may also make the contest more unpredictable. Moreover, alumni voters may be less inclined to vote for Browne, a former oil company boss, given Cambridge¡¯s desire to divest from fossil fuels by 2030.

Miller¡¯s lack of connections to Cambridge may count against her, but equally Evans¡¯ activism may be viewed with suspicion by some alumni and academics, said Gill Evans, emeritus professor of medieval theology and intellectual history at Cambridge. The astrophysicist¡¯s ?urges the university to tackle academic precarity, appoint an ombudsman to investigate ¡°serious abuses or mismanagement¡± and ¡°stop the waste of money on highly paid, external consultancies¡±.

¡°The chancellor is and should remain powerless. Wyn has an agenda,¡± said Evans (no relation).

For his part, Wyn Evans believes the chancellor ¨C an ambassadorial and ceremonial role held by Prince Philip for 35 years prior to Sainsbury ¨C could drive important change, stating the ¡°problems that Cambridge is facing are primarily internal¡±.

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¡°A comparison with Microsoft or Apple a few decades ago ¨C during periods when those companies had lost direction ¨C is instructive. Like Microsoft and Apple, Cambridge benefits from a natural monopoly that yields substantial revenues,¡± Evans told 51³Ô¹Ï.

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¡°The university¡¯s powerful brand enables it to generate significant income, which ought to be reinvested into its core mission: teaching, talent identification and retention, and research. What¡¯s urgently needed is a reform-minded leader ¨C like a Satya Nadella or Steve Jobs ¨C to refocus the institution on what truly matters: education, learning and research,¡± he said.

Whether alumni voters agree on this recasting of the chancellor¡¯s role remains to be seen, with some expecting more candidates to declare shortly. Former Great British Bake Off and QI host Sandi Toksvig, a Girton College alumna who has been actively involved in the Mappa Mundi women¡¯s history project at Cambridge in recent years, is regarded by some as a likely candidate.

Mishal Husain and Emily Maitlis, both former BBC broadcasters, are highly respected alumnae who might help to raise the profile of the university, whose American vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice has largely steered clear of public debate on higher education issues since taking office in July 2023.

Cambridge could benefit from a higher-profile chancellor, said Diana Beech, director of the Finsbury Institute at City St George¡¯s, University of London.

¡°Despite being one of the world¡¯s most famous universities, Cambridge has been noticeably reserved on the public stage over recent years,¡± said Beech, adding that ¡°while other universities have made great efforts to appoint leaders to connect with local, national and global communities, Cambridge¡¯s absence of prominent institutional figureheads risks leaving the university behind in a world where the moral case for higher education needs to be made stronger than ever¡±.

Another royal candidate should not be ruled out either, said Beech, a Cambridge alumna, who said there was a ¡°golden opportunity¡± for the future Queen, who holds the title of the Duchess of Cambridge, to be selected, or the current one, Camilla.?

¡°Should the university wish to match Oxford in appointing a more politically engaged chancellor, however, it could do a lot worse than approach former Cabinet minister and Cambridge alumnus Michael Portillo as someone with a rare mix of political nous, popular appeal and a thirst for international travel to put the university back where it belongs on the global radar,¡± added Beech.

Chasing attention with a high-profile chancellor is not the way forward, insisted Wyn Evans, however. ¡°If Cambridge needs a high-profile chancellor to be noticed, we might as well rebrand the university as a reality TV show: ¡®Keeping Up with the Cantabrigians¡¯.¡±

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jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com