Yesterday’s Spectator event “The Schools Revolution, One Year On” was an opportunity for Gove to try to sell the rapid strides he has made in education reform. It was also an opportunity for David Laws to further his attempts at a political rehabilitation. Despite fighting each other in the shadow education briefs for their respective parties, one  year on and Laws was tripping over himself to “welcome, the necessary and important advances” that Gove has made.

In the delegate pack Laws continued to gush about the Education Secretary’s agenda, concluding;

“I cannot as a liberal justify preventing people from establishing schools to serve the public, within the same constraints of access and funding which are granted to other state-funding schools. So I wish the Free Schools movement, as well as the Academies movement, all the very best for the future.”

Gove was clearly inspired by the LibDem assessment, adding his thoughts;

“I cannot as a liberal justify preventing people from establishing schools to serve the public, within the same constraints of access and funding which are granted to other state-funding schools. So I wish the Free Schools movement, as well as the Academies movement, all the very best for the future.”

If Gove were to get the call up to the FCO it seems there is an identikit ready to step into his place…