Labour proudly presented a fully state-educated Cabinet on Starmer’s election in 2024. Andy Burnham has undone that work…
Half of new Cabinet appointees are privately educated, taking the share of independently-schooled senior ministers to more than one in four. 26% to be exact…
That’s a lower state-school representation than Starmer’s first and second Cabinet. There are 27 Cabinet members, 14 of whom are new. Seven went to private school:
That’s roughly the same level of private education seen in Theresa May’s first Cabinet (30%). Beware the resulting class guilt, it does things to the minds of left-wingers…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”