LONDON: On Wednesday, the University of Oxford announced that 38 candidates are vying to become its next chancellor, but former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, currently imprisoned, is not among them, despite claims from his party that he applied.
The ceremonial role has been continuously filled since 1224. The candidates, which include several prominent politicians, are competing to succeed Chris Patten, the former governor of Hong Kong, who left the position in June after serving for 21 years.
In August, a spokesperson for Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), stated that the party founder and prime minister from 2018 to 2022 had expressed a desire to submit his application.
Khan has been incarcerated for over a year, facing various charges, including corruption and incitement to violence. He graduated from Oxford in 1975 with a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics, later achieving fame as the captain of Pakistan’s cricket team before transitioning into politics.
The university indicated that applications are evaluated against its “four exclusion criteria,” which disqualify candidates deemed not to be a “fit and proper person” by the UK’s tax authority.
The list of candidates includes former Conservative Party leader and foreign secretary William Hague, Labour’s former EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson, former attorney general Dominic Grieve, among others.
Scottish lawyer Elish Angiolini, currently the principal of St Hugh’s College, Oxford, aims to become the first woman to hold the position in 800 years. Her alumni include former UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.