Imran Khan, the imprisoned former prime minister of Pakistan, is aiming to become Oxford’s next chancellor when the university’s graduates and staff vote later this year.

Syed Zulfi Bukhari, one of Khan’s advisers, said the former international cricket star had submitted an application to run in the election in October to replace Chris Patten, the former Conservative minister.

Khan, 71, served as Pakistan’s prime minister from 2018 to 2022 as the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party he founded in 1996. He was ousted as prime minister through an army-backed vote of no confidence in Pakistan’s parliament and has been in jail on a string of charges for the past 12 months.

For several hundred years, elections to the largely ceremonial role of Oxford chancellor required graduates and staff to be in Oxford and wearing academic dress to vote. But Khan’s candidacy has been eased by new rules allowing nominations and voting to be carried out online.

Other than his political standing, Khan’s qualifications include eight years as chancellor of the University of Bradford, and studying politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford’s Keble College in the 1970s while winning honours for the university’s cricket team. He captained the Pakistan men’s cricket team when they won the World Cup in 1992.

Nominations for candidates closed on Sunday. The university said no confirmation of individual candidates would be given before a final list was published in early October.

While overt campaigning is rare, among the likely candidates are Elish Angiolini, the former lord advocate of Scotland and principal of St Hugh’s College, and Margaret Casely-Hayford, a former chair of Shakespeare’s Globe, who each would become the first female chancellor in Oxford’s history.

Supporters of the former Labour minister Peter Mandelson and the former Conservative leader William Hague say they are interested in the role.

Voting will be held online from 28 October. Only Oxford graduates and members of the university’s congregation, including academic staff, are able to vote.

Although a non-executive role, the chancellor chairs the committee appointing the vice-chancellor and is involved in fundraising, advocacy and oversight.

The university’s records show that Patten is the 159th person to have served as Oxford’s chancellor since 1224. Powerful politicians have previously filled the post, including Robert Dudley, the first earl of Leicester, during Elizabeth I’s reign, and Oliver Cromwell during his rule as lord protector.

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