Election of Gordon Brown as Rector, 1972

In 1973, Gordon Brown, postgraduate student and future Prime Minister, was elected Rector of Edinburgh University.

The late 1960s and early 1970s were a period of intense student militancy at Edinburgh University, centring on two causes: the demand that the university cut all financial ties with the Apartheid regime of South Africa and a call for greater student participation in university governance. These issues first came to dominate university life during the Rectorship of Kenneth Allsop (1968-1971) who was broadly supportive of student aspirations. Students demonstrated against the touring South African rugby team at Murrayfield Stadium in 1970 and successfully demanded that the University cease investing in companies that did business in South Africa. At the same time, the Student Rector Campaign gained momentum, arguing that the only way for students to gain a voice on the University Court was to elect one of its own number as Rector. The Campaign triumphed with the election of student Jonathan Wills in 1971.

Wills held office for one year only,