Free speech supporter wins for the Cambridge Chancellorship
(23.7.25) Lord Chris Smith wins Cambridge Chancellorship election.
Cambridge alumni have elected Lord Chris Smith to the Chancellorship of Cambridge University. Lord Smith is considered by AFFS to be a supporter of free speech and academic freedom, so was a good candidate for those who care about free speech. See AFFS’ detailed report and recommendation here.
AFFS wrote in June to the ten candidates requesting information about their position on free speech. Based on the AFFS’ review and analysis of candidates’ responses, AFFS and The Free Speech Union recommended candidates for alumni to vote for in the Chancellorship election from a purely free speech perspective.
Our report on the candidates gave Lord Smith a positive free speech rating (effectively 6/10), and said:
“Lord Smith gave a thoughtful and generally positive set of answers to our questions, from the point of view of supporting free speech protection, which you can read here. He was, for instance, encouragingly positive about the need for institutional neutrality.
While there is much that is encouraging, a lack of appreciation of the depth and nature of the problems was evidenced in some replies.”
This positive impression was supported when Lord Smith appeared on the Today programme on 24 July. When asked what his top priority is, he said “free speech”.
AFFS is confident that Lord Smith cares about free speech, and will be a supporter of it when issues arise. AFFS is therefore pleased with this result.
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The best free speech candidates for the Cambridge Chancellorship
Cambridge alumni can use their vote in the upcoming election for the Chancellorship of Cambridge University to support candidates who stand for the protection of free speech and academic freedom, and thus demonstrate that free speech matters to alumni. We urge all alumni to vote for a strong free speech candidate. Our recommendations are below.
AFFS has written to the candidates requesting information about their position on free speech.
The great majority of the candidates responded.
Based on AFFS’ review and analysis of candidates’ responses, the candidates among the apparent frontrunners for the Chancellorship who AFFS and The Free Speech Union (“FSU”) jointly recommend to those Cambridge alumni who care about free speech are (in alphabetical order):
Lord (John) Browne of Madingley
Dr Mohamed El-Erian
Other candidateswho appear to be strong free speech supporters and who appear to be the most suitable to support are (in alphabetical order):
Dr Ayham Ammora
Professor Wyn Evans
Given that neither of the preferred front-runners is hugely ahead of the other in free speech terms, effective use of transferable votes is likely to be critical. Whichever candidate alumni initially vote for, AFFS and the FSU also recommend that they ensure that their transferable vote goes at some stage to (ideally) both of Lord Browne and Dr El-Erian, or at least to one of them.
Our recommendations are based solely on factors relating to free speech protection. We are politically neutral as regards the candidates. Other factors will, of course, also matter to individual voters. It is not for us to comment or give recommendations regarding wider considerations, and we do not do so.
Some candidates have not engaged with our detailed questions, while some have shown signs of not understanding aspects of the problem, or being less supportive of the effective protection of free speech at our universities, as explained in our detailed statement. We therefore recommend that alumni who care about free speech do not vote for these candidates.
Our detailed statement on this can be found here. This contains detailed information on each candidate’s response and an evaluation of them from a purely free speech perspective.
What you can do:
- vote for a strong free speech candidate.
- share this with your friends who are Cambridge graduates and care about free speech.
