..and got to meet the Rolling Stone with a VIP pass

It was an unusual display of democracy, with Mother Teresa, Israeli statesman Yitzhak Rabin, Marxist political terrorist Carlos The Jackal and Mick Jagger on the ballot paper.

In the end, the Rolling Stones legend triumphed to be voted honorary president of the student union at the London School of Economics – a result that made international headlines in 1994.

And now the role of comedian Gary Delaney in the unlikely victory has been revealed… by money-saving expert Martin Lewis.

The financial campaigner was general secretary of the student union at the time and Delaney was the entertainments manager who championed Jagger’s cause. And they both got to meet the rocker backstage at a Stones gig in Wembley Stadium gig to confer the honour.

Lewis explained the story on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs yesterday

‘Mick Jagger was promoted by the entertainments sabbatical, a guy called Gary Delaney, who’s now a stand-up comic and he’s a mate… and Mick Jagger won,’ he told host Lauren Laverne

‘Now Mick Jagger had been at the LSE [in 1962]. He did two terms of accounting and finance then left to pursue his musical career. His tutor at the time said, "you’ll never make any money for this but it [your degree] will be ready for your when you come back."

‘And he won. Gary and I went to meet him to present him with his honorary presidency at Wembley Stadium when he was doing the concert. 

‘I was empowered by the school, the LSE, to say that they had checked and that his degree was still open and he was still welcome to come back and finish it whenever he liked. We chatted for about 45 minutes, an hour, until he said, "I’m afraid I’ve I’ve got to go and do a concert now."

‘It was just one of those marvellous experiences; meeting Mick Jagger when you’re that age, going to Wembley Stadium. We got to see the concert afterwards. We were in hospitality, which was very nice for students: very, very nice, posh pukker grub, I remember at the time. It was just fantastic.’

A student newsletter report from the time, written by Lewis, recorded that they presented Jagger with a pewter tankard and a Class Of 95 graduation T-shirt to mark his victory And Lewis wrote that to his shock, Delaney greeted Jagger with the words: ‘Congratulations Mr President!’

According to the college newspaper, the election frontrunners were Jagger and Carlos The Jackal – aka Venezualan Ilich Ramírez Sánchez – who had recently been captured in Sudan. He is currently serving three life terms for deadly terrorist attacks. 

Delaney told the college newspaper he was hoping to secure a gig by the Stones at the student union ‘by hook or by crook’ after Jagger promised to pay a visit, although it does not appear to have happened.

#SU2034 1994: Mick Jagger elected honorary president of LSE Students' Union http://t.co/RGKEruW6Rd pic.twitter.com/uTe4CAFX56

— LSE Students' Union (@lsesu) April 1, 2015

However, he and Lewis went on set up a comedy club at LSE together, where Lewis performed, with Delaney writing material for him. When Lewis set up an early online venture, Simply Money TV, he used comic characters such as Costin Powers.

Published: 8 Jun 2020