One of the insults that the left throw at the Conservative party is that they are “Tory Toffs” or that they all went to Eton or that they are all public school educated. You hear this especially from the left wing “comedians” who dominate BBC light entertainment. People like Sandi Toksvig, who, hypocritically went to Tormead School, an independent girls’ school near Guildford. And Marcus Brigstocke who was educated at several private schools: St. Edmunds School in Hindhead in Surrey, Westbourne House School in Chichester in West Sussex and King’s School in Bruton, Somerset.
There is nothing wrong with having Old Etonians in government. It is one of the best schools in the world and surely we want well educated people running the country.
Likewise anyone who complains about the government containing Oxford and Cambridge graduates is being very silly indeed. Anyone in the country can go to these universities, if they are good enough. Oxford is associated with 59 Nobel prizes, Cambridge with 90. Exactly the background we need our politicians educated in.
So let’s look where the Conservative politicians in the Cabinet were educated.
- David Cameron: Heatherdown School in Winkfield. Due to good academic grades Cameron entered its top class almost two years early. When 13 he went to Eton College and then did a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at Brasenose College, Oxford achieving a first-class honours degree.
- William Hague: Ripon Grammar School and then Wath-upon-Dearne Comprehensive followed by a PPE at Magdalen College, Oxford, graduating with First-Class Honours.
- George Osborne: St Paul’s School, London, and a 2:1 bachelor’s degree in Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford.
- Theresa May:Â St. Juliana’s Convent School for Girls, a Roman Catholic independent school in Begbroke.Then she won a place at the former Holton Park Girls’ Grammar School in Wheatley in Oxfordshire. In 1971, the school was abolished and became the site of the new Wheatley Park Comprehensive School during her time as a pupil. May then went to the University of Oxford where she read Geography at St Hugh’s College, graduating with a BA (Hons) degree in 1977.
- Philip Hammond:Â Shenfield School (now Shenfield High School) in Brentwood, Essex, and University College, Oxford, where he gained a first class degree in PPE.
- Chris Grayling:Â Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe. Then Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a 2:1 Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1984.
- Michael Fallon:Â Epsom College, an independent boys’ school in Surrey. He then went to the University of St Andrews, where he read Classics and Ancient History, graduating in 1974 with a Master of Arts (MA) degree.
- Iain Duncan Smith: St. Peter’s RC Secondary School, Solihull, until the age of 14, then HMS Conway, a Merchant Navy training school on the Isle of Anglesey. He attended the Italian Università per Stranieri (founded 1921) in Perugia for a year but he did not obtain any qualifications or finish his exams.
- Jeremy Hunt:Â Charterhouse School, where he was Head Boy, before Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with a First in PPE.
- Eric Pickles:Â Greenhead Grammar School (which became Greenhead High School and is now University Academy Keighley) in Utley, then studied at Leeds Polytechnic.
- Nicky Morgan:Â the private, fee-paying Surbiton High School before studying Jurisprudence at St Hugh’s College, Oxford.
- Justine Greening:Â Oakwood Comprehensive School. She attended the University of Southampton, where she studied Economics, and has an MBA from the London Business School.
- Patrick McLoughlin MP:Â Cardinal Griffin Roman Catholic School in Cannock, Staffordshire, and Staffordshire College of Agriculture at Rodbaston College.
- Theresa Villiers:Â independent Francis Holland School. Villiers gained a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree with first class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a year later that of Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) from Jesus College, Oxford.
- Stephen Crabb: Tasker Milward V.C. School, a voluntary controlled state maintained school in the market town of Haverfordwest, in Pembrokeshire, from 1984–91, followed by the University of Bristol, graduating in 1995 with a BSc in Politics.
- Sajid Javid:Â Â Downend School, a state comprehensive school near Bristol, from 1981 to 1986, followed by Filton Technical College, also near Bristol, from 1986 to 1988, before the University of Exeter, Devon, from 1988 to 1991, where he studied economics and politics,
- Elizabeth Truss:Â Roundhay School, a comprehensive school in north-east Leeds. She read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Merton College, Oxford.
So there are 17 Conservative cabinet members and 11 of them had a state secondary education and only ONE went to Eton. So much for the lies of the left.
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Thanks to Wikipedia for its help in compiling this.
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In other words, over a third of Tory cabinet ministers went to private schools, even though only seven percent of the population did so. Your research only confirms the disproportionate representation of private schools in government. Thanks for the research.
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Symon. At least 7 of the Labour shadow cabinet went to private school. A similar proportion. “Labour Toffs”.
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I’ve no brief to defend the Labour Party. You’re just proving the point that the upper echelons of politics are dominated by private education. (Incidentally, I’ve nothing personally against people who went to private schools; they can’t be blamed for their parents’ decisions. My objection is to a system that allows a small minority to have so much power over the rest of us.)
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I went to private and secondary modern schools.
Labour Party members and supporters went to public schools, as well as grammar and/or secondary modern schools, just as many Conservative Party members and supporters attended secondary modern, or/and grammar, public, or private schools.
I am not against private or public schools, many of which were originally ‘charity’ schools for scholars and I appreciate , honour and respect the memories of all those whose names are inscribed on respective memorials and Rolls of Honour at our public, private, grammar, secondary and other schools, throughout the UK and beyond.
Personally, I think the grammar schools filled a need and brought children from all walks of life together. They suited some pupils, but would not have suited others. The same applies to various types of schools.
I salute and honour those countless former pupils who gave their lives for their country, whichever types of schools they attended, naval, military, public, private, grammar secondary, or other type of school or college.
All education, regardless of the type/s of school/s which one attends, is precious and can never be taken away from those who are lucky enough to receive it. Some schools teach classical educations, others may teach more practical, crafts, agricultural, or sporting subjects, according to the needs and aptitudes of the pupils.
Many years ago, I read a letter published in the press by a lorry driver who related driving on a long journey, when he lost his way whilst driving through Windsor.
He didn’t know the area and he stopped to ask an Eton schoolboy for directions.
The boy raised his hat and referred to him as ‘Sir’, whilst politely directing the lorry driver to his destination, with great courtesy, as indeed I would expect any school pupil to do and the lorry driver made a point of commending the boy’s excellent manners and respectful demeanour.
That Eton schoolboy was no ‘toff ‘. He was a decent, well mannered young man. A great credit to his school and his parents.
Education doesn’t stop when we leave school of course. It continues throughout the School of Life, or should do, but of course not everyone learns from it.
Dr Samuel Johnson once asked a boy who was rowing him across the River Thames what he would give for an education. ‘Sir’ replied the boy, ‘I would give all that I have’.
The good Dr Johnson was so chuffed that he gave the boy twice the fee of the boat journey as a tip !
These days one might receive a different answer from members of our younger generations and one certainly couldn’t guarantee the ‘Sir’ !
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What’s wrong with going to a private school? My parents only sent me to one because they couldn’t send me to a grammer school, and my mother was state educated all her life before going to Cambridge. There’s nothing wrong with private education. If people have worked hard enough to afford to send their children to private school, let them, and it’s not their fault if the fact that they do well because of that allows them to become an MP. In a perfect world, more people would be able to send their children to private or grammer schools where bright children can be given the education that suits a bright child, instead of smart of having smart children dragged down by truants and fools, and allowing children who will never gain anything from doing algebra and classics to learn more practical and simple skills. Our education system is blighted by leftie thinking. I can see that, and I’m only 14.
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So out of 17 Tory Cabinet members not one Engineer, Scientist, Medic and only 1 claiming a Management qualification! Plenty of Philosophers, Politicians and Economists though. One Quiet Man with no qualifications though in your Silver Spoon Brigade who disparages the poor, sick and disabled and has wasted more than Benefits embezzled on a useless UC computer.
Great bunch to deliver self serving policies, piss on the poor and claim expenses for heating their stables! Even a decent middle manager wouldn’t recommend this lot to manage a £700 billion economy!
You’re deluded Bruce!
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Hi Geoffrey, you don’t seem to understand what an Economist is.