From the archive: Democracy in action at Oxford
Polling took place at Oxford yesterday for the election of a new Chancellor of the University to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Lord Curzon of Kedleston. The candidates were Lord Cave (the Lord Chancellor) and Lord Oxford and Asquith.
There is a quaint medieval flavour about voting for a Chancellor, and Oxford — not always successful in the management of its ceremonies — had staged the drama well. The Divinity School and the inside of the Sheldonian are a good setting for any play, and gave an impressiveness which is conspicuously absent from the ordinary polling booth.
Proceedings opened early: from a quarter to 9 this morning the bell of the University Church rang for its accustomed half-hour to summon members to a meeting of Convocation — for such the assembly technically is. Already at 9.15 there was a fair gathering of voters, mostly residents, but with a mixture of MAs 'from the country', including at least one Cabinet Minister, even at that early hour. Outside the Divinity School were stationed College porters with a supply of gowns, ready to be borrowed. Duly clad, the voter entered the Divinity School and found his voting-paper ready to be filled up.
To one accustomed to the secrecy of the ballot it was something of a shock to find that his first duty was to write his own name, but the shock was mitigated by the unique pleasure of delivering his vote in Latin. 'Ego … e Coll. nomino …': there is something splendid in the formula, which for all its old-world ring seems to lay a wonderfully democratic emphasis on the importance of the individual vote.
The voter now advances across the quadrangle and enters the great door of the Sheldonian. There he finds the Vice-Chancellor and the Proctors seated in all their majesty at small tables with bedels surrounding them leaning on 'pokers' erect. The Vice-Chancellor receives the vote with a gracious bow, looks at it, and hands it to the Asquithian or Caveite Proctor, and the deed is done.
After the close of the poll at 8.30 the result was known as follows: Lord Cave, 987. Lord Oxford and Asquith, 441.
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