Campbell resigns to leave Oxbridge majority

by Peter Campbell | October 24th, 2007

Whether or not you like Gordon Brown, at least he didn’t take the typical route to leadership: he didn’t go to Oxbridge. David Cameron did. So did the two candidates to succeed dear old Glasgow Graduate Menzies Campbell: Chris Huhne and Nick Clegg. Both Ed Balls and David Miliband, the likely successors to Brown, are Oxbridge alumni, as were Blair, Thatcher, Heath and Wilson. In recent times, the only two British Prime Ministers who weren’t Oxbridge graduates were ‘University of Life’ men Callaghan and Major.

So what hope is there for those who are not at Oxford – like we poor beggars at the University of York?

A week after Freshers’ Fair, ambitious young students embark on a three-year slog to the top. Those hoping to hack their way up the hierarchy of YUSU, NUS, or even the national Tory/ Labour/LibDem student groups may well be disappointed.

Hack away; but be prepared to tug your forelock to your Oxbridge betters when it comes to the top job.

I’m not saying that non-Oxbridge students won’t succeed. Many of you will be very successful (Harriet Harman is an ex-Yorker!). However, the Oxbridge gang always seems to beat us to the very top. To paraphrase Ali G, “Is it cos they is clever?” Or is there another reason? Does it matter? Surely it makes sense for the country to be run by the most apparently intelligent people?

But that is where the elite system falls short. Regardless of the academic brilliance or reputation of Oxbridge, it remains an Ivory Tower. The Institute of Public Policy Research, states that “Oxbridge currently take 40% of their students from private schools, which account for just 7% of the national student population.”

The question “do we want our country run by Oxbridge graduates” is irrelevant: it already is. York is one of the best universities in Britain, and is beginning to enjoy worldwide acclaim, but it’s still not Oxford. That is no bad thing, but does it mean you should not be considering student politics as a way to the very highest positions, since the old Oxonians will always win?

I am not saying, “Avoid student politics!” YUSU, NUS and the student political party groups are all a good way of getting young people to engage with current affairs and, like all student societies, are a chance to meet like-minded people. But unless you fancy you can overturn centuries of precedent, when you begin your ascent of the greasy pole in the humble environs of the Students’ Union, you might do well to accept that the top job may elude you.