Edinburgh University's New Rector

You know, when I was involved in student politics, I was on the winning side of a vote just once. Unless you count the time I got 65% of the vote in an election to become an SRC Rep. Granted, only 20 votes were cast, but still.

Anyway, having been supportive of Iain Macwhirter (albeit from a distance, and unable to affect the outcome in any way, shape or form), I am pleased to say that he defeated my vote share triumph on a far higher turnout: he took 69% of the vote against George Foulkes.

We learned, of course, that the campaign for Foulkes was a Labour campaign. Well, that was a mistake: if you want to appear popular with students, you don't achieve that by proposing a man who voted for Top-Up Fees as the students' champion in university affairs.

Who knows what would happen, had Labour chosen a better candidate?

Of course, that doesn't matter. In the alleged words of Iain Gray, this campaign was about the Labour Party and they lost by a majority of more than two to one: a damning verdict.

They lost the trust of the academic community. Judging by this result, it seems that they have not regained it.