Old ties bind

Higher education watchers could have confidently predicted that the new rector of St Andrews University would be Sir Clement Freud. The former Liberal MP won the race with 52.4 per cent of the 1,892 student votes, comfortably beating challenges from feminist icon Germaine Greer (31.4 per cent) and postgraduate student Barry Joss (16.1 per cent).

Students have clearly voted in the spirit of the "promoting partnership" initiative between St Andrews and Dundee University: Sir Clement was student-elected rector of Dundee from 1974 to 1980. He will take up the three-year post next month.