General election: MPs and Private Education
The Guardian reviewed personalities in the current election campaigns considering whether that had a private education background or a long chain of privilege and connection.
The conclusing was that despite the piety of politicians who say that social background and whether you went to an independent school and had private education do not matter, the same old elite stays in power – whatever the party.
The mantra prevails. Social class shouldn't matter in politics. "It's not who you are, it's what you believe." "It's where you're going to and not where you've come from that should count" was quoted by Simon Schama (who attended Haberdashers'Aske's Independent School) to David Dimbleby (who attended Charterhouse Independent School) on Question Time last week.
The official Conservative website lists biographical details of shadow cabinet members. Details of education at a state school are clearly identified, but the old schools of most other shadow ministers who have received private education, however, remain hidden. For example the shadow secretary for Wales, Cherry Gillan, who attended Cheltenham Ladies College, is reported as "educated at local schools [in Cardiff] until the age of 10".
It becomes clear that when a secondary school isn't named, that school is fee-paying. Somewhere in the region of 18 out of a total of 32 shadow cabinet members received private education, while 19 went on to university at Oxford (12) or Cambridge (7).
To a lesser extent Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs attended fee paying school; for example Alistair Darling went to Loretto, a Scottish boarding school and Nick Clegg went to the Westminster School.
According to research conducted by the marketing and PR firm Madano, the proportion of MPs who went to comprehensive schools is likely to fall after the next election from 46% to 30%. The same research shows that the proportion who attended private schools could be three times that of 1997.
General election: a touch of class is still an issue Guardian (9th April 2010).
General election: MPs and Private Education
The Guardian reviewed personalities in the current election campaigns considering whether that had a private education background or a long chain of privilege and connection.
The conclusing was that despite the piety of politicians who say that social background and whether you went to an independent school and had private education do not matter, the same old elite stays in power – whatever the party.
The mantra prevails. Social class shouldn't matter in politics. "It's not who you are, it's what you believe." "It's where you're going to and not where you've come from that should count" was quoted by Simon Schama (who attended Haberdashers'Aske's Independent School) to David Dimbleby (who attended Charterhouse Independent School) on Question Time last week.
The official Conservative website lists biographical details of shadow cabinet members. Details of education at a state school are clearly identified, but the old schools of most other shadow ministers who have received private education, however, remain hidden. For example the shadow secretary for Wales, Cherry Gillan, who attended Cheltenham Ladies College, is reported as "educated at local schools [in Cardiff] until the age of 10".
It becomes clear that when a secondary school isn't named, that school is fee-paying. Somewhere in the region of 18 out of a total of 32 shadow cabinet members received private education, while 19 went on to university at Oxford (12) or Cambridge (7).
To a lesser extent Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs attended fee paying school; for example Alistair Darling went to Loretto, a Scottish boarding school and Nick Clegg went to the Westminster School.
According to research conducted by the marketing and PR firm Madano, the proportion of MPs who went to comprehensive schools is likely to fall after the next election from 46% to 30%. The same research shows that the proportion who attended private schools could be three times that of 1997.
General election: a touch of class is still an issue Guardian (9th April 2010).