Former Conservative leader Lord William Hague and Labour grandee Lord Peter Mandelson are among the candidates who have successfully applied to run as the next chancellor of the University of Oxford.

Imprisoned former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan had applied for the role but the former cricket star was “excluded” from the full list of candidates announced by the institution, his aide has suggested.

Former Conservative attorney general Dominic Grieve and former Tory universities minister Lord David Willetts are also among the 38 approved applicants who will stand for the historic position.

The election comes after Lord Patten announced in February that he would be retiring after more than 20 years in the position.

The chancellor is the titular head of the university and they preside over key ceremonies, and they also chair the committee to elect the vice-chancellor.

Staff and alumni of the university will vote online for the first time to elect the Chancellor – a post which has been in place at Oxford for 800 years.

The University of Oxford said all applications were considered by the Chancellor’s election committee solely against four exclusion criteria.

The Chancellor “must not be disqualified from being a charity trustee by virtue of section 178 of the Charities Act 2011 (or any statutory re-enactment or modification of that provision)” or subject to a disqualification order made by the Charity Commission and must be a “fit and proper person”.

The Chancellor also cannot be a student or an employee of the university, or a serving member of – or a declared candidate for election to – an elected legislature.

Zulfikar Bukhari, an aide of Mr Khan who was authorised to submit the application, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “It’s extremely unfortunate that Oxford University has excluded Imran Khan’s name from the Oxford chancellor election.

“My lawyers have written to the university asking for their reasons.”

He added that the decision was a “loss” for the University of Oxford.

A spokeswoman for the institution told the PA news agency that a number of candidates were excluded through this process, but she would not confirm or comment on which applications had been rejected.

Among the candidates vying to be the university’s first female chancellor are Lady Elish Angiolini, principal of St Hugh’s College in Oxford and chairwoman of the inquiry into the murder of Sarah Everard, and Baroness Jan Royall, principal of Somerville College in Oxford and former leader of the House of Lords.

Margaret Casely-Hayford, who recently stood down as Chancellor of Coventry University and who is a former chairwoman of Shakespeare’s Globe, would be the first black woman in the historic post if she won.

In her statement, Ms Casely-Hayford said: “In the near millennia Oxford has been teaching, it has not yet appointed a female or chancellor of colour, and that should change starting now.

“I don’t think my gender or racial background should give me a free pass. I believe my leadership roles speak for themselves.”

In the week commencing October 28, voters will have the opportunity to rank as many candidates as they choose.

The top five candidates will proceed to the second round of voting, which will take place in the week commencing November 18.

The new chancellor – who will be in post for a fixed term of no more than 10 years – will be announced in the week of November 25.

Here is a full list of the approved candidates:
– Sidra Aftab
– Hasanat Ahmad
– Ayham Ammora
– Elish Angiolini
– Anwar Baig
– Ankur Shiv Bhandari
– Nirpal Singh Paul Bhangal
– Kashif Bilal
– Alastair Bruce
– George Callaghan
– Margaret Casely-Hayford
– Graham Catlin
– Mei Rose Connor
– Emma Dandy
– Azeem Farooqi
– Matthew Firth
– Dominic Grieve
– William Hague
– Lyn Michelle Heiming
– Benjamin Ivatts
– Simon Kay
– Peter Mandelson
– Ryn Miake-Lye
– Angie Moxham
– Shaikh Aftab Ahmad Javaid Muhammad Hafiz Shaikh
– Maxim Parr-Reid
– Alam Pasha
– Kadira Pethiyagoda
– Kashmaila Rauf
– Jan Royall
– Talha Shah
– Abrar ul Hassan Shapoo
– Harry Stratton
– Tanya Tajik
– Pratik Tarvadi
– Francisc Vladovici Poplauschi
– Xingang Wang
– David Willetts