Buckingham Uni’s vice chancellor suspended for alleged affair with decades younger woman

Buckingham University’s vice chancellor has been suspended after having an alleged affair with a decades younger woman.

Profesor James Tooley, 65, supposedly had an affair overseas with a woman in her twenties whose tuition fees he’d helped pay.

His now-estranged wife, Cynthia, 42, reported the affair the university. However, the relationship was said to be before his marriage, The Times revealed.

Following Professor Tooley’s suspension from his £229,000-a-year role nine weeks ago, friends came out in support, saying he had been removed due to “anti-woke” views.

Previously, the vice chancellor had tried to appoint a university role to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Dutch politician. Ms Ali, an outspoken critic of Islam, was chosen by Professor Tooley to be the inaugural Thatcher Chair for the Constitution of Liberty at Buckingham, a decision which caused backlash at the university.

However, it was revealed that Professor Tooley was suspended from his position due to allegations of an affair with a woman in her twenties in India.

It is believed that Professor Tooley’s estranged wife, Cynthia, handed over copies of diaries to the university in October which were supposedly written by the woman and given to the vice chancellor.

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Professor Tooley allegedly began the relationship with the unnamed women whilst he was in his fifties and involved in a project in Hyderabad which aimed to build low-cost private schools for poor communities.

It has been reported that he knew the woman’s father and contributed to paying her tuition fees whilst she was a university student. His friends claimed that he paid the fees as a charitable gift and that the relationship began when she was no longer a student.

The Times spoke to the woman who is involved in the supposed affair. She explained that whilst she was 18 when she first met the vice chancellor, their relationship didn’t begin until years later.

She said: “Anyone who reads my diaries can see I was in love with him and wanted to be with him.

“He was kind and thoughtful and always treated me with respect. People will say he used me because he has power and money. But that’s not the case. He is a good man who cares a lot about other people.”

She stated that the relationship continued after he had moved back to the UK but that it ended in 2019. It has also been noted that there is no evidence of illegal conduct nor of marital infidelity.

The university has appointed Joseph O’Brien KC, to investigate the allegations, and he is due to conclude his inquiries before the end of the year.

A complaint has also been made by the Free Speech Union (FSU) to the Office for Students. In the group’s letter, it said the allegations of the Buckingham University vice chancellor’s alleged affair were “vexatious in nature” and had “no bearing on his fitness to carry out his public role”.

The FSU also said that Professor Tooley was “humiliated and publicly shamed in this way…because some members of the [university] council disapprove of the various public interventions he has made in defence of free speech and the history and heritage of Great Britain, which, in their eyes, are ‘right-wing’ points of view and therefore beyond the pale”.

A University of Buckingham spokesperson said: “The university was informed of a number of serious allegations against our vice-chancellor.

“To protect all parties involved, including the vice-chancellor himself, he was suspended following due process and legal advice to allow for an independent investigation. This investigation is being conducted by a leading KC, and it would not be appropriate for the University to comment further at this time.”

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