William Hague elected new Oxford chancellor

British former Conservative party leader and ex-foreign secretary William Hague was elected as the University of Oxford's 160th chancellor on Wednesday, after four rounds of voting.

The career politician and member of the House of Lords who graduated from Oxford in 1982 will now lead the prestigious university in the largely ceremonial post that has been occupied continuously since 1224.

The result dashed hopes that the university would elect its first woman chancellor in the role's 800-year history, with Hague's final round opponent Elish Angiolini garnering 11,006 votes, compared to his 12,609.

Angiolini, the outgoing principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford, is a lawyer and former lord advocate of Scotland who led a high-profile inquiry into the 2021 rape, abduction and murder of 33-year-old marketing executive Sarah Everard by a London police officer.

The pair went head-to-head after defeating 36 other shortlisted candidates to reach the final round.