The Duke of Edinburgh The Lord Sainsbury of Turville The University of Cambridge Chancellor election, 2011 refers to a rare instance of a contested election for the position of Chancellor that occurred in October 2011, resulting in the choice of Lord Sainsbury of Turville to succeed the retiring incumbent Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Contesting the post were actor Brian Blessed, who finished second with 25% of the votes cast, barrister Michael Mansfield, QC with 17%, and local grocery-owner Abdul Arain with 6%.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh retired on 30 June 2011,[citation needed] creating the opening which led to the October 2011 election.

[7] Since the date of the close of nominations - 17 June 2011 - fell on the last full day of Easter Term, this meant that an election could not be held until a month after the end of the summer vacation, in October 2011.

[17] On 31 May, it was announced that over the preceding Bank Holiday weekend, a Facebook campaign by Cambridge graduates to draft veteran Shakespearean actor Brian Blessed as a candidate had resulted in the necessary 50 signatures being generated.

And it is that that I want to urge; and the university has so many projects, so many enterprises, so many departments, it makes my hair stand on end at the prospect of working with them.

"[24] On 6 June, The Independent commented that the election had been expected to be a "David and Goliath battle between Lord Sainsbury and local shopkeeper Abdul Arain.

[25] On 14 June, it was reported that radical socialist barrister Michael Mansfield had been nominated by several Cambridge academics, with the lawyer describing his candidature as, "a fine opportunity to defend the principles of Higher Education and critical thinking in particular, which have been steadily eroded by successive governments wedded to market forces."

[26][27] One of Mansfield's nominators elaborated to the Law Gazette on why the barrister was standing: "Is it too rude to call (Lord Sainsbury) a plutocrat?

"[28] Nominations closed on 17 June, when a university spokesman confirmed that all four candidates had secured the level of support needed to get on to the ballot paper.

Lord Sainsbury made his first public statement on the election since being nominated, stating, "I have great admiration and affection for the university, built up over all the years since I was an undergraduate at King's, studying history and then psychology.

"[32] On 14 September, the Cambridge Union Society announced that they had secured the agreement of all four candidates for each to give their own separate hustings in the week before the election, with four Q&A sessions scheduled for between 10 and 12 October.

[28][34] On 23 September, it was announced in the local press that Blessed intended to spend the afternoon of one of the election days holding court in a Cambridge pub, thanking his supporters as they return from voting.

He also unveiled several posters of himself, some YouTube videos in which he set out his case for standing, based on "representing a world-class university which has deep roots in its local community.

I am particularly pleased that the election did not turn into a battle between the arts and humanities and science, or between political parties, and I look forward to championing the University in its entirety at home and abroad in the years ahead.