Published: 8th December, 2025
Members of the Leicester University community have voted overwhelmingly that they have “No Confidence” in the Vice Chancellor, Nishan Canagarajah. The vote, organised by Leicester University and College Union (UCU), came in the context of mass job-cuts and departmental closures at the university. Over 160 jobs are threatened, with areas such as Modern Languages and Film Studies set to close under the plan.
Some 1,022 members of the university community took part in the vote, 593 students and 429 staff. Of those who took part, 983 (96.2%) voted that they had No Confidence. Only 39 (3.8%) expressed confidence in Professor Canagarajah. The vote follows five weeks of strike action by UCU since the start of the academic year, along with a well-attended national demonstration called by the union. Students have been present during all the picket lines and protests of the union.
Dr Joseph Choonara, co-chair of Leicester UCU, said: “This vote reflects the upsurge of anger towards the university leadership, from staff, students and the wider community. The vice chancellor and his allies are seeking to drive through these mass redundancies in the face of widespread concerns about the impact on the university and the city.
“Shutting Modern Languages courses, something which has already happened at Nottingham University, risks creating a language-learning desert in the East Midlands. Film Studies is a profit-making department that is being threatened for no clear reason in a move that will actually worsen the financial plight of the university. Merging the School of Geography, Geology & the Environment with the School of Chemistry, with resulting job losses, is entirely irrational and will damage two of our strongest schools.
“The restructuring of professional services, who support research and teaching, will mean not just job losses, but forcing staff who remain onto inferior contracts—it’s little more than ‘Fire and Rehire’.”
Next in the firing line are History, the School of Education and professional services staff who provide technical and research support. Plans for these areas are to be announced in January 2026.
One of the students from an affected department, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “I’ve always loved my degree and been proud to be a student at the university of Leicester. However, throughout the last few months, the university have lied to us, misled us, ignored our questions and silenced us when we spoke out.
“It feels like the Vice Chancellor and upper management have constantly broken their promises, and are ripping the courses out from under us, with little regard to importance or impact on staff, students or the world. The staff on my course have meant the world to me and have been absolutely incredible throughout my degree, but the Vice Chancellor has let them down and let us down. I’m not sure I can continue to be proud of a university led by management who are tearing it apart.”
A member of staff whose department is set to be axed in the redundancy programme commented: “I don’t have any confidence in our vice chancellor or in the University’s Executive Board. Senior leaders at the University are prioritising their very substantial pay packages over and above the academic integrity of this institution, its reputation, and its long-term viability.
“Some of the University’s recent successes have happened thanks to the tireless work of rank-and-file staff, and often in spite of, rather than thanks to, our current leadership. It is infuriating to see that the same people that have made such positive contributions are now being deemed surplus to requirements, while senior leaders continue to claim credit for those achievements. But students and staff have wised up to the contradiction between what University leadership claims to represent and what it in fact does, which is to protect its own position and privileges at any cost.”
Professor Canagarajah was awarded a 14% pay rise following the 2021 redundancy programme known as Shaping for Excellence. Following that redundancy programme, several members of staff were found at employment tribunals to have been unlawfully made redundant. Leicester UCU has expressed concern that the university leadership have learnt nothing from that experience. UCU members have been ignored when pointing out that the current redundancy process contains serious irregularities, breaching the university’s own Redundancy Ordinances.
Further strike action is now planned for January, and Leicester UCU will re-ballot to extend its mandate for industrial action, due to expire in March 2026.
Caren Frosch, the co-chair of Leicester UCU, commented: “Staff and students across the university are horrified by the proposed cuts. Our members are determined to fight back and stop the closures and job cuts. The membership of our union has grown over the last six months and many of our members have volunteered to support colleagues at risk. Our branch is going from strength to strength.
“We are also delighted by the many students and student societies who have supported us on the picket lines and social media. They have expressed their outrage about the treatment of staff. Together we will do everything we can to halt this process.”
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