The Cambridge Union has revealed that all four candidates for Chancellor of the University are to speak at the Union days before voting commences.

Actor Brian Blessed is to open the hustings on the 10th October, followed by barrister Michael Mansfield QC the following day.

Lord Sainsbury, former supermarket-chain Chariman, and Abdul Arain, the Mill Road shop owner, are to conclude the series by both speaking on the 12th October.

The candidates will each give a 20 to 30 minute talk, after which they will take questions.

Non-members will also be allowed to attend the talk held during the society's open period.

A spokesman for the Union said: "This event provides an exciting opportunity for students and staff to engage directly with the men pursuing this most prestigious position.”

Union President Calum Macdonald said the they were "expecting quite a bit of interest.”

He added, "We felt it was important students got a sense of what the candidates are like and had the chance to put issues to them. I'm sure Brian Blessed will go down incredibly well."

Voting will take place in the Senate House on Friday 14th and Saturday 15th October 2011. All votes must be cast in person.

Only members of the University Senate may vote in the election. This comprises of graduates with the Cambridge MA degree or higher as well as members of The Regent House.

Labour peer and King's College alumnus Lord Sainsbury is the university’s official candidate. He is a former minister for science and innovation and has described himself as having "a life-long interest in education."

Lord Sainsbury is also a prolific donor to the University having recently funded the construction of the £82m Sainsbury’s Laboratory.

Mansfield, a radical-socialist Barrister, said he believes the role of chancellor must "reach out to embrace the sacred principles of independence and diversity which are in serious jeopardy from the craven demands of the marketplace."

Blessed gained the required nominations after an alumni Facebook campaign. He has since released a campaign video in which he described his belief that he could bring to the role "humour, and drive, and soul, and appreciation."

Local resident Arain joined the race while campaigning against the opening of a Sainsbury's Local opposite his shop. He said, "I believe the chancellorship is so removed from what it initially stood for. I believe it is time that the university reconnected with the people and the town.”

This is the first time that the election of a new Chancellor has been actively contested since 1847.

As with tradition, if no other candidates had been nominated against Lord Sainsbury, then he would have been deemed elected unopposed on 1st July 2011 without the need for the October ballot.