Walcott,who withdrew his candidacy. Padel denied connection with them, but commentators alleged her involvement and she resigned, saying she did not wish to do the job under suspicion. Public comment attributed treatment of Padel to misogyny, the gender war or 'toxicity of the media', which "pursued allegations against Walcott's past but also criticised Padel for having mentioned them as a source of voters' disquiet, unfairly excavating Walcott's past while unfairly denigrating Padel, justly held in high regard for her poetry and teaching." "Oxford missed out for the worst of reasons on an inspirational teacher; Walcott removed the decision from the electorate by his own choice; Padel should not have been made to pay for his decision to confront neither his accusers nor his past." On Newsnight Review, poet Simon Armitage, elected to the Chair in 2016, expressed regret at her resignation. "Ruth's a good person. I don't think she should have resigned, she would have been good." References External links Personal Website King's College London website Ruth Padel Biography 1946 births Living people Academics of Birkbeck, University of London Academics of King's College London Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford English women poets Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature People educated at North London Collegiate School Fellows of the Zoological Society of London 20th-century English poets 21st-century English poets 21st-century English novelists English women novelists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English women writers 21st-century British writers