When I arrived in St Andrews in 1983, a state-educated, first-in-family student, I found an institution that combined demanding teaching with strong values, broad horizons, a tight-knit community, and an exhilarating range of sports and social activities. That experience shaped my sense of what education should be: not just the accumulation of knowledge, friendships and experiences, but the formation of judgement and character. I have stayed connected since through our academic community, mentoring some of our most talented students and my role on the University Court.
Now, after a career serving our country at home and overseas, I have decided to stand for Chancellor to serve our university community. Colleagues from across St Andrews – senior academics and members of the University Court, and alumni from our most recent to our most distinguished – have done me the honour of nominating me. They believe a Chancellor rooted in the University, committed to the distinctive St Andrews model, and able to champion St Andrews effectively with governments and business worldwide could have a decisive impact over the next decade.
The University stands at a pivotal moment. The challenges are daunting, the opportunities exciting. Climate, technological, demographic, socio-economic and geo-political change will transform how universities teach, research and operate. Like Ming Campbell, I believe the University's bedrock will always remain integrity, intellect and inclusion. But St Andrews must also evolve to continue to thrive. We are proud to sit at the top of UK league tables. Our ambition now should be to establish St Andrews as the finest university of our scale in the world.
UK higher education is on an unsustainable financial path. For St Andrews, government support will not keep pace with the ambitions of a university competing with institutions like Oxbridge and the Ivy League whose endowments dwarf ours. Under the Principal's leadership, the Making Waves campaign has already achieved half of its £300 million target. We must go further faster: deepen philanthropy, especially from North America, and deepen partnerships to support research, scholarships and investment.
Universities are operating in an environment of noise, misinformation and culture-war politics. Free speech and academic freedom – the foundations of genuine scholarship – are under pressure worldwide. As a university with a global perspective and a magnet for global talent, St Andrews must protect and promote both.
So the next Chancellor's role is much more than ceremonial. The University is seeking a national figure able to “play an important ambassadorial role, promoting the University's interests and reputation nationally and globally and supporting efforts in philanthropic fundraising”.
For the past two decades, I have focused on strengthening institutions navigating turbulent change – in government, as Cabinet Secretary, National Security Adviser and Head of the UK Civil Service – and now across business and philanthropy. I have built relationships and opened doors in the public, private and third sectors in the UK and overseas. As a cross-bench peer, I can work with governments in Edinburgh and Westminster of any political complexion. I care deeply that the University’s success benefits the town, Fife, Scotland and the United Kingdom.
I would be a calm, authoritative, active Chancellor. I have the stature to represent the University credibly at home and overseas, and to work with counterparts from other leading universities. I have the profile to make the case to the Scottish and UK governments that our University is a strategic national asset. I have the networks to help secure our future through fundraising, research partnerships and alumni engagement – for example by re-energising the Chancellor's Circle.
I would be honoured to serve as Chancellor the university that made my own journey possible. But whoever is chosen will have my wholehearted support. If the next Chancellor can help future students find at St Andrews what so many of us found – rigorous teaching, horizons extended, lifelong friendships and an education that shapes lives – we will have made a wise choice. This election matters. I am ready to serve.