THE FORMER footballer, now television chef, Mr. Gordon Ramsay, is believed to be the front-runner in the campaign to be elected Lord Rector of the University of St Andrews. Mr. Ramsay, known for his strong personality, is the most famous among the four candidates, and his personal wealth has been considered with an eye towards augmenting the Rector’s Fund for students.

The election to decide the next Lord Rector will be held on October 28, with polling places at the Students’ Union on St. Mary’s Place, and at the University Library.

While Gordon Ramsay’s fame precedes him, if membership in analogous Facebook.com groups can be taken as an indicator, then Mr. Yusuke Osawa has both Gordon Ramsay and Simon Pepper, as well as Mr. Passmore beaten.

The position of Rector has existed since the foundation of the University of St Andrews. During the medieval period, the persecution of heretical students was a task under the mantle of the Rector. The position has been awarded (in election) varyingly to celebrities, emminent personalities, as well as a spate of well-bred aristocrats every so often. Proverbially, it is said that the Rector is really only as good as his Rectorial Assessor. Since most Rectors have lived outside of St Andrews, indeed sometimes as far away as South Africa and the West Indies, the Rector’s Assessor, almost always a student, is appointed as a liaison between students, the university, and the actual Rector.

Gordon Ramsay’s campaign is being run by Tobias Joss, a St Andrean currently studying at Glasgow and prominent in the University of St Andrews Union Debating Society. Mr. Joss was previously a Rector’s Assessor, and even ran for Rector himself against the prominent feminist Geraine Greer and the current Lord Rector, Sir Clement Freud.

Martin Passmore’s campaign is being run by Andrew Ogletree, a magistrand from Connecticut who is in the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, and an a capella singing group. The Osawa campaign is being run by the Conservative & Unionist Association committee member Jaimie Potton, while Simon Pepper’s supporters are led by Mr. Ben Nicholson.