TWO candidates have confirmed they are in the running to become Oxford University’s next chancellor.

An election for the coveted role is taking place during the third week of Michaelmas term commencing October 26 and will be held online.

The election was announced following the current chancellor, Chris Patten, Lord Patten of Barnes, announcing earlier this year that he will retire.

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Now according to national reports, Lord Peter Mandelson and Lord Willam Hague have reportedly confirmed they are in the race for the ‘most venerable posts in British public life’.

Lord Mandelson is a British Labour Party politician who first served at First Secretary of State from 200- to 2010 under Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

He is purported to have been described as having a ‘significant’ influence on the office of Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and is a ‘core part’ of his network.

Lord Hague was the leader of the Conservative party from 1997 to 2001. He was awarded a life peerage in the 2015 Dissolution Honours list in 2015.

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He was appointed First Secretary of State and Leader of the House of Commons in 2014.

Those eligible to vote in October are Oxford graduates, members of the congregation and retired members of staff.

Lord Patten has held the role, which is largely ceremonial, since March 2003.