1960 University of Oxford Chancellor election

University elections

1960 University of Oxford Chancellor election

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| <- 1933 | 3 March 1960 | 1987 ->

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Candidate  | Harold Macmillan | Sir Oliver Franks
Party  | Conservative | Independent
Popular vote  | 1,976 | 1,697
Percentage  | 53.8% | 46.2%

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| Chancellor before election

Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

| Elected Chancellor

Harold Macmillan

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The 1960 University of Oxford election for the position of Chancellor was called upon the death of the incumbent Chancellor, Lord Halifax, on 23 December 1959. It was the first election for Oxford Chancellor to be contested since 1925.

## Electorate

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The electorate consisted of all members of the University holding the rank of Master of Arts, of which there were around 30,000 at the time. Votes had to be cast in person at Oxford in academic dress. The election was by first past the post. To stand a candidate had to be nominated by two electors.

## Candidates

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At first, the university authorities came up with only one candidate, the wealthy Chairman of Lloyds Bank and former British Ambassador to Washington Sir Oliver Franks.

However, Hugh Trevor-Roper, installed less than three years earlier as Regius Professor of Modern History by the Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, proposed the Prime Minister as an alternative candidate. Trevor-Roper orchestrated the Macmillan campaign, writing to graduates to encourage them to travel to Oxford to vote for Macmillan.

## Result

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The results were as follows:

Candidate  | Votes  | %

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YHarold Macmillan | 1,976 | 53.8
Sir Oliver Franks | 1,697  | 46.2
Turnout | 3,673  |

## See also

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* List of chancellors of the University of Oxford

## References

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* Sisman, Adam (2010). Hugh Trevor-Roper, London: WEIDENFELD & NICOLSON, pp. 313–7. ISBN 978-0-297-85214-8

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Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton

Constituencies|

* Stockton-on-Tees
* Bromley

Family|

* Daniel MacMillan (grandfather)
* Lady Dorothy Macmillan (wife)
* Maurice Macmillan (son)
* Lady Caroline Faber (daughter)
* Julian Amery (son-in-law)
* Edward Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire (brother-in-law)

Career|

* 1945 Bromley by-election
* Macmillan government
* US–UK Mutual Defence Agreement
* 1959 United Kingdom general election
* Wind of Change speech
* Night of the Long Knives
* Beeching reports
* Vassall affair
* Profumo affair
* Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Depictions|

* Supermac (1958 cartoon)
* Never So Good (play, 2008)
* The Crown (TV, 2017)

Related|

* Birch Grove
* The Middle Way (1938)
* 1960 University of Oxford Chancellor election
* 1963 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours
* Earl of Stockton
* Macmillan Publishers
* St Giles' Church, Horsted Keynes

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