Overview
- A leaked council transcript shows Vice-Chancellor Deborah Prentice saying Russell Group vice-chancellors and Cambridge representatives have met "key people" from Reform UK.
- The remarks, reported by The Sunday Times, confirm sector outreach and note a planned March governing-body session to review what a Reform programme could mean for higher education.
- Prentice said a Reform figure told vice-chancellors the party would "get rid" of the Office for Students, a point she flagged as cause for caution about what might follow.
- Cambridge has not identified which Reform figures were involved and says any contacts were informal and routine for a large institution.
- Concerns focus on parallels with Trump-era tactics, including Reform’s published pledge to cut funding to universities judged to undermine free speech.