Green MSP Q Manivannan loses bid to become St Andrews rector

Green MSP Q Manivannan has lost their bid to become the rector of the University of St Andrews following controversy over comments about rape.

Manivannan came under fire over the summer when remarks re-emerged in which they spoke about the “demonisation of rape” and claimed that rape existed on a “spectrum”.

Monty Python co-founder John Cleese, a former rector of the Scottish institution, urged students not to vote for Manivannan, accusing the politician of trying to “understate the appalling psychological effects of rape”.

The Edinburgh and Lothians East MSP apologised for any hurt caused by the remarks made in a podcast last year, but said their comments had been “maliciously” edited.

Manivannan, who uses they/them pronouns, came third out of six in the race to become St Andrews rector, while Brian Baumgartner, the actor best known for playing Kevin Malone in the US version of The Office, came second.

Arthur Bernhoff, a St Andrews graduate who lives locally, received the most votes and has been elected the new rector of the university.

The vote saw the “biggest response” to a rector’s election “in recent history”, according to the university, with turnout at just under 45% – almost double the turnout in the last St Andrews Rectorial election in 2023.

Mr Bernhoff has an analytical role at the Ministry of Defence and is a deployable civilian expert for the Foreign Office.

Manivannan, from India, recently announced they had been awarded a graduate visa, having been elected to the Scottish Parliament on a student visa.

The graduate visa will only last until 2029, with the anthropologist, poet and politician planning on applying for a global talent visa at that point.

They completed their doctorate in international relations at the University of St Andrews earlier this year.

Manivannan identifies as non-binary and is one of the first two openly trans MSPs at Holyrood, alongside fellow Green Iris Duane.

They have since attracted some controversy, including reports suggesting they may have sought to portray themselves as being disadvantaged, despite coming from a wealthy family.

Manivannan has described themselves as a “queer Tamil immigrant”.

Their comments on rape were criticised by the Scottish Rape Crisis Alliance, which accused the MSP of trying to “minimise” sexual violence.

Manivannan spoke of the “demonisation of rape”, and said: “It is a spectrum – none of which is any worse or less or more worse, but it is a spectrum of things that constitute that one homogenised word, rape.”

They also said there were “different modes” of consent and rape.

The MSP went on to say that the idea of a rapist being a “big, big, burly man” was “not necessarily unfounded” but said it was “misconstrued” because “any individual is capable” of rape.

Apologising for the comments, they said: “I am horrified that my comments were selectively edited in order to mislead people and misrepresent me, but I also accept that my language was abstract in the first place and for that I take full responsibility and am sorry.

“During the interview, I categorically stated that rape in every context is equally serious and harmful.

“This section of the interview was maliciously left out of clips — with the rest being misrepresented and widely shared out of context, despite my repeated clarifications.

“I also made the point that rapists do not fit a single stereotype and that many men are relatives or known to their victims.

“I recognise that the words in the clip shared, without the full context of the conversation, have caused considerable upset.

“For that I apologise. I will always stand with, and for, victims and survivors.”