The Oxford University chancellor election votes breakdown has been revealed with Lord Peter Mandelson suffering an early exit.

Lord William Hague was announced as the new chancellor of the university yesterday (Wednesday, November 27) following weeks of voting.

It was revealed earlier this month that five candidates had made the final shortlist with Lord Hague and Lord Mandelson included alongside three others.

Lady Elish Angiolini, Baroness Jan Royall and Rt Hon Dominic Grieve were also in the running but the latter was knocked out of the race first after achieving just 2,484.

READ MORE: William Hague elected as new chancellor of Oxford University

Lord Mandelson campaigned heavily but exited the running early.Lord Mandelson campaigned heavily but exited the running early. (Image: John Story)

This first round saw 9,589 votes for Lord Hague, 6,266 for Lady Angiolini, 3,599 for Baroness Royall and 2,940 for Lord Mandelson.

Despite heavy campaigning, Lord Mandelson was knocked out in just the second round with his 3,344 votes falling short of Baroness Royall’s 3,945.

Two clear favourites emerged in this stage with Lord Hague receiving 10,472 votes and Lady Elish Angiolini getting 6,915.

Baroness Royall was eliminated in round three with 4,662 votes while Lady Angiolini received 7,727 votes leaving her as the last challenger to Lord Hague who received 11,766 nominations.

READ MORE: Oxford University 'hidden for decades' nominated for award

The last stage saw a close finale between the duo but Lord Hague bested Lady Angiolini with a score of 12,609 votes to 11,006.

Lord Hague will be formally inaugurated as Chancellor early in the New Year and serve for a term of 10 years, replacing Lord Chris Patten who announced his retirement from the post in February.

The voting was a blow for Lord Mandelson who had spoken about staying at Oxford University during his campaign, and speaking to students at colleges directly.

He had received criticism during his campaign about going for the job of Britain’s ambassador to the US at the same time as running for the chancellor role. 

This was widely reported by national newspapers but Lord Mandelson denied having any knowledge of the ambassador position, telling the BBC that "nobody has spoken to me about it".  

“I’m actually concentrating on and focused on something else,” Lord Mandelson, who was one of the key architects of Labour’s 1997 election success, said when asked about the ambassadorship.

Lord William Hague Lord William Hague “I know that people say that William Hague is a heavy hitter… he’s the favourite to be elected chancellor at Oxford.

“All I would say is that if the university does want a big hitter then it does have an alternative to look to.”

Ultimately, Lord Mandelson proved to be correct in labelling Lord Hague as the favourite during the interview BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme earlier this month.

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