{"id":773719,"date":"2026-09-17T15:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T15:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/773719\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T15:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T15:04:09","slug":"former-student-of-suspended-reform-official-reopens-bullying-case-against-cambridge-university-university-of-cambridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/773719\/","title":{"rendered":"Former student of suspended Reform official reopens bullying case against Cambridge University | University of Cambridge"},"content":{"rendered":"

A former student of James Orr who was found to have been bullied by the suspended senior Reform UK figure is reopening a case against the University of Cambridge<\/a>, after apparent discrepancies emerged over the university\u2019s handling of the incident.<\/p>\n

The former student alleges that the academic\u2019s claim not to have been disciplined contradicts assurances they say they received from the institution.<\/p>\n

Cambridge was ordered by the university\u2019s office of student conduct, complaints and appeals (OSSCA) complaint reviewer to pay \u00a35,000 compensation to the student for distress and in lieu of tuition fees after an investigation partially upheld the bullying allegation against Orr, an associate professor in the university\u2019s Faculty of Divinity.<\/p>\n

Separately, the University of Cambridge said earlier this month that it was examining Orr\u2019s conduct<\/a> after he and another key aide to Nigel Farage were filmed appearing to try to circumvent electoral laws on foreign political donations. Orr was suspended<\/a> from his highly influential role as Reform UK\u2019s head of policy over the incident.<\/p>\n

The university now faces renewed questions about its handling of previous allegations of academic negligence and bullying made against the high-profile academic by a theology PhD student. The student decided to leave the university in January last year without completing their doctorate as a result of their experience with Orr.<\/p>\n

The OSSCA partially upheld the grievance earlier this year, the Financial Times reported earlier this month. As well as being awarded the payment, the student received an apology from Richard Rex, the chair of the Faculty of Divinity\u2019s board, who acknowledged that the student\u2019s experience with Orr had been \u201cdistressing\u201d and \u201cdisruptive\u201d.<\/p>\n

The student\u2019s case with the university was subsequently closed, but they now say they are reopening it, alleging that the university had lied to them about disciplining Orr.<\/p>\n

Their concerns about Cambridge are understood to stem from Orr\u2019s account of the case given to the Financial Times, which the student believes is in conflict with what the university had told them.<\/p>\n

Orr was quoted in the Financial Times as saying that he was unaware of the complaint findings or the compensation and that \u201cno disciplinary action of any kind\u201d had been taken against him.<\/p>\n

The former student says that this account contradicts Cambridge\u2019s claim that appropriate action was taken, and suggests that Cambridge failed to properly follow its procedures in relation to investigations into staff and disciplinary procedures.<\/p>\n

In a social media post shared with close friends last week, the student described the impact Orr\u2019s alleged conduct has had on them.<\/p>\n

They said: \u201cIt has had long-lasting effects on my confidence and self-belief. It made me lose my passion for academic inquiry, and consequently a large part of my identity and passion for life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The student said they had made the difficult decision last January to leave their PhD studies at the university. After passing a first-year upgrade examination, they had decided to leave with a postgraduate certificate rather than complete the full course.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason I decided to leave my studies at Cambridge was because of the behaviour of my initial supervisor, Dr James Orr,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

But they said that the FT investigation suggested that the university \u201chas not been truthful with me\u201d and that they are therefore reopening the case. \u201cI am extremely determined to receive justice, both for myself and for others who have been negatively impacted by Orr\u2019s behaviour. But it is a relief in itself to finally be able to speak openly about this,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remain deeply concerned about the emotional and academic wellbeing of students who encounter Orr at Cambridge. I hope that the university, particularly in light of recent events, will now take appropriate action.\u201d<\/p>\n

When approached by the Guardian about the former student\u2019s intention to reopen the case, the University of Cambridge said: \u201cWe have clear policies and processes in place to protect our students and staff. We cannot comment on individual cases because our students and staff have a right to confidentiality.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Orr was interviewed by the OSSCA, he told the FT that he was \u201cat a loss to know what any responsible supervisor could have done differently\u201d and did not believe the student\u2019s account was a \u201cfair characterisation\u201d of the conversation which led to criticism of his remarks by an investigator.<\/p>\n

Orr did not address the former student\u2019s intention to reopen the case when approached by the Guardian.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A former student of James Orr who was found to have been bullied by the suspended senior Reform…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":773720,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-773719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/773720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}