Name a college after Thatcher? She might have been good but she does not trump Jesus, says Oxford uni Lord Patten
The Chancellor of Oxford University has rejected calls to endow a college in honour of Margaret Thatcher – suggesting she cannot compete with Jesus. Lord Patten dismissed demands for the university to make good its snub to Lady Thatcher three decades after it refused her an honorary degree. He backed plans to set up a Thatcher scholarship at Somerville College, where Lady Thatcher earned her degree. But in a speech to journalists in Westminster, Lord Patten – a Cabinet minister under Mrs Thatcher – rejected calls by London Mayor Boris Johnson to name a college at Oxford University after her. He said: ‘You would either have to start a new college, which would be more expensive, or you would have to persuade Jesus [College] or Corpus Christi or Christ Church to change their name.’ Lord Patten then issued a barbed comment, saying: ‘It may be thought – however admirable she was – slightly pushing it to persuade Jesus to change its name.’ Campaigners have been demanding recognition for Lad