The University of Oxford has insisted staff can make up their own minds about whether to stand for election after it emerged that the head of its immigration team stood as a Reform UK candidate for the local council.
James Baker, who heads the staff immigration unit at the top-ranked university, polled fourth in the ward of Littlemore last week.
He gained 210 votes and finished fourth behind a Green, an independent and a Labour candidate, with the last, Tiago Corais, securing 726 votes to win the seat on Oxford City Council, despite the dismal showing of his party nationally.
Baker’s team advises Oxford’s international academics on the visa options open to them, such as the Global Talent and Skilled Worker visas.
It also provides “bespoke advice” on how to stay in the country permanently for staff, visitors and their dependants, according to the university’s website.
