Imprisoned former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has applied to become the next chancellor of the prestigious British University of Oxford, his party said.

Khan, prime minister from 2018 to 2022, has just spent a year in prison on a range of charges, from corruption to inciting violence. He said the charges were politically motivated and aimed at keeping him out of power.

“Imran Khan has instructed to submit his application and now the application is being examined,” said Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari, the London-based spokesman for Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

“It is a ceremonial post, but one of the highest prestige and importance. And given that Imran Khan is one of the bigger and better known names to come out of Oxford, it would be great to see him as chancellor,” he said.

Conservative peer Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, announced his resignation as Chancellor of Oxford in February.

According to the university’s website, the list of candidates for the ten-year term will not be published until October, with voting taking place at the end of the month.

Khan graduated from Oxford with a degree in philosophy, politics and economics in 1975.

During his career as one of Pakistan’s greatest cricketers, he led a playboy life and regularly graced the pages of British gossip magazines.

He was married three times, including to British socialite and filmmaker Jemima Goldsmith, and later turned to philanthropy and politics.

As prime minister, he faced strong backlash from women’s rights groups for linking the high rates of sexual violence in Pakistan to the way women dress.

Khan was ousted in 2022 and subsequently launched a comeback campaign, criticizing the powerful Pakistani military whose top generals had once supported him and drawing huge crowds to the country’s streets.

“If he does become chancellor, he would be the first of Asian descent. That would not only be something for Pakistan, but a great achievement for the whole of Asia and the rest of the world,” said Bukhari.

According to British media reports, other prominent applicants and Oxford graduates include former Foreign Secretary William Hague and former EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson.