5 months ago
41
Downing Street says it is not focused on ‘tick-box diversity’ and women get senior jobs elsewhere
Rishi Sunak has finished his cabinet reshuffle, centred on forming a “strong and united team”. But for the first time since 2010, Sunak has ensured privately-educated men get the top four positions in government.
Liz Truss’s ministry was notable for initially having no white men serving in the great offices of state for the first time in British political history, with Kwasi Kwarteng becoming the first black chancellor.
Three of the four top cabinet ministers – Sunak, Jeremy Hunt and David Cameron – graduated with first class honours in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) from the University of Oxford.
The last time all four top ministerial positions were held by men was at the end of Gordon Brown’s Labour government, with Brown in No 10, Alistair Darling as chancellor, Alan Johnson as home secretary and David Miliband as foreign secretary.
The number of female cabinet ministers has dropped by 5%. Some of those in post include Victoria Atkins, the health & social care secretary, Kemi Badenoch, the business & trade secretary, and Claire Coutinho, the energy & net zero secretary.
The number of non-white ministers has dropped, from five to four out of 23. Those ministers are Sunak the first Asian prime minister, Cleverly, Badenoch and Coutinho.
According to the Sutton Trust, 63% of his new cabinet were privately educated, much lower than John Major’s 1992 cabinet, with 71,% and Thatcher’s 1979 cabinet, which had 91% attending private school.
Of the 32 ministers around the cabinet table, 21 went to private school, five went to grammar schools and six attended comprehensive schools.
Of those who were privately educated, 41% went on to attend either Oxford or Cambridge university.
The educational charity also estimates 19% went to a comprehensive school, which is much lower than Boris Johnson’s cabinet which had 27%.
They estimated Sunak’s top team is nine times more likely to have gone to an independent school than the general population, roughly 7%.
Continue reading...