Abdul Arain in his grocery store on Mill Road

SINCE 1601 the roll call of Cambridge University chancellors has included 12 dukes, seven earls, three lords, a marquis, a prince, a field marshal and, most recently, the Queen’s consort.

Brian Blessed interacts with the students at Cambridge Union Society.

But this week’s elections could see an unprecedented break from tradition as a Mill Road shopkeeper, a cult actor and a ‘radical lawyer’ go up against the university’s proposed candidate, the supermarket empire’s Lord David Sainsbury.

The election was prompted after current chancellor Prince Philip resigned after turning 90 this year.

This week has seen booming actor Brian Blessed and a man who has fought miscarriages of justice as well as representing Mohamed al-Fayed and the family of Jean Charles de Menezes, Michael Mansfield QC, lobby to voters.

But one of the stand-out contests in a mismatched candidate line-up is the David and Goliath battle between the former chairman of the supermarket giant and the man fighting to stop a store opening across from his Mill Road store, Al Amin owner Abdul Arain.

Lord Sainsbury last night told Cambridge First that he “was not totally surprised” someone had challenged the university’s choice of candidate.

He said: “There has not been an election for 34 years because of Prince Philip being the chancellor.

“Fifty years ago if told the university had nominated someone, that was it.

“But we don’t live in that world any more so I was not totally surprised.”

After graduating from King’s College, Lord Sainsbury said he has had contact with Cambridge University ever since – in particular during his eight years as Minister for Science and Innovation in the House of Lords.

“I have had a lot of experience of working with the university so it’s a subject I’d know a lot about,” he said.

“It’s important in these difficult times that politicians understand how important universities are and to fund them properly.

“They also need to have an intelligent conversation with the universities about their contribution to society.”

He added: “The fees situations need to be watched very carefully.

“While I don’t think in principal the scheme we have could lead to a reduction in the number of people coming from state schools, if it does lead to this and a reduction in social mobility then the university needs to watch very carefully as that would be disastrous.”

Despite the odds being in favour of Lord Sainsbury being announced chancellor on Sunday afternoon, the supermarket mogul said there was no certainty as there had not been an election for the chancellor position in 165 years.

“I think there’s a lot of support,” he mused.

“But the important thing is for people to come out and vote on the day.

Mr Arain, the proverbial David, initially had his hat thrown into the ring as part of a campaign to prevent Sainsbury’s moving into Mickey Flynn’s Pool Hall, but now he admits: “it is much deeper than that”.

“I am someone who has been involved in Cambridge for a long time. I am all things Cambridge,” said Mr Arain.

“It is about how the university fits in within the community, how both of them need to complement and lift each other in a way which represents the ethics we hold dear.”

He used the August riots as a symptom of decline in community spirit in English cities. Mr Arain is prepared to fight to save that spirit.

While his views on the city are well-formed, Cambridge University is subject to the issues facing higher education. Where does the shopkeeper stand on tuition fees?

“It’s a difficult one – between what the university needs and what it charges – particularly when we want to look at access,” he mused.

“If you don’t have the financial backing to afford an education then you going to be left with many years of debt – people should be able to enjoy the education we offer.”

Mr Arain and Lord Sainsbury spoke within an hour of each other at the Union last night. Speaking before the hustings, Mr Arain said it was up to Lord Sainsbury to make his case, and he would be making his own.

He later told an audience at the Union his intentions were to bring Town and Gown closer together.

“The university and the city can be seen to be at odds with each other,” he said, “but it doesn’t have to be like that.”

Using the unity of the Mill Road community as an example, he said he wanted to act as a symbol for a diverse university.

Mr Arain was not the only one to be catapulted into the chancellor race. Brian Blessed was the subject of a Facebook campaign which saw him garner the 50 nominations needed to run.

The Shakespearean actor told a packed Cambridge Union on Monday night: “Cambridge is the centre of the earth”.

“If by some streak of fortune the coal miner’s son is made chancellor of Cambridge University, anything is possible and nothing is impossible,” he roared.

“It is a place of infinite possibility to learn here. There is a library I want to devour.”

When asked by a student what gave him the edge on the other three candidates standing for the chancellor election, the larger than life actor, uncharacteristically, gave the modest reply that they were more qualified.

“I have been dragged up out of the wilderness,” he said.

“The students have asked me to come and I have answered it because something in my heart rejoices in it.”

Mr Blessed was asked how he would find time for the university alongside his acting career and his passion to pursue adventure.

“I have been president for the National Parks for eight years and our parks are doing very well,” he remarked.

Seventy-five-year-old Mr Blessed, who had to leave school at 14 after his father suffered a mining accident, said he longed to go to university and was tremendously fortunate to gain a scholarship to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School along with childhood friend Patrick Stewart.

But Mr Blessed – whose ability to deviate from one anecdote to the next seamlessly is nothing short of remarkable – was lost for words when it came to the question of how he would improve access to Cambridge University and higher education in general.

“I haven’t a clue,” he replied.

While Mr Blessed is a notable change from the usual line-up of chancellors, 2003’s chancellor election at Oxford University saw stand-up comedian Sandi Toksvig take more than 1,000 votes.

Though no duke, Michael Mansfield QC at least has letters after his name.

Mr Mansfield promised to challenge the Government on its higher education policies.

“Education is not a commodity,” he said,

“We are not dealing with a market place where you sell education.

“That was never how it was meant to be.”

He rounded on the Government placing an “economic straitjacket” on universities and said Cambridge University should have stood up and led an opposition against tuition fees - only then could £9,000-a-year fees have been stopped - and praised students for protesting and occupying the Old Schools for a week.

Mr Mansfield, a self-proclaimed ‘radical lawyer’, also said the role of chancellor should not be for life.

He added: “I think there ought to be a rota. There ought to be a healthy change of people at the top.”

Prince Philip held the post since 1977.

To find out the result of the chancellor election, visit www.cambridgefirst.co.uk on Sunday afternoon.