Cambridge educated Geoff Hoon was leaving nothing to chance with his daughter’s own entrance interview. A co-conspirator was surprised to see him back in November (Sunday, 23 November 2008) at the expensive Interview Preparation Day held at King Edward VI High School for Girls in Edgbaston run by Mayfair based Oxbridge Applications. Guido would of course do the same if he thought it would give his daughter an edge, however Guido isn’t an advocate of comprehensive education and egalitarianism like Geoff Hoon. So it is a little hypocritical to see him buying his daughter a private educational advantage.

A Guido co-conspirator writes:

With my (state school educated) son trying for Oxbridge, I decided to give him a better chance against the private school competition by shelling out £295 for an interview training day, held in Birmingham.

As I waited for my son in the foyer, I was suprised to see Geoff Hoon, Minister of Transport, sitting a couple of seats away from me. Labour Minister gives offspring an unfair advantage in applying to top university? Surely not!

Mr Hoon was studiously perusing a sheaf of papers, writing notes in the margin. Perhaps some papers relating to the third runway at Heathrow? Our Transport Minister had to answer a call of nature, and left the room, leaving the pile of papers unattended on his chair. As a loyal citizen, I kept a protective watch over what may have been very important documents. I should have taken a picture too…

In due course his six foot tall daughter emerged from the lecture room and the two left in a hurry.

Miss Hoon is in fact so tall that she was identified by the UK government’s Sport’s “Sporting Giants” scheme. The scheme was launched in conjunction with the English Institute of Sport to identify those tall athletes who have the potential to excel in handball, volleyball and rowing, and at 6ft Miss Hoon was among those attending a Manchester session in the summer of 2007.

Wonder if Hoon got his money’s worth and she got an offer?