It seems vice-chancellors are queueing up to toss aside their Labour tendencies and to woo Boris Johnson, the new Tory Shadow Higher Education Minister. As they fight it out for diary space, he may soon discover that gripes about the research assessment exercise don't aid the digestion. Perhaps Boris's arrival has sharpened the minds of the Liberal Democrats, who have finally appointed a Higher Education Spokesperson - education select committee member Tim Farron - to champion their rather optimistic fight against top-up fees.