Half of David Cameron’s new cabinet was privately educated, Sutton Trust research published today reveals, but twice as many have been to comprehensive schools as in the coalition cabinet of 2010.
Cabinet ministers are seven times more likely to have gone to a fee-paying school than the general population, of which 7% went to private schools.
However, the proportion of independently educated ministers attending Cabinet is less than that of the previous cabinet (62%), and significantly less than the last two previous cabinets under Conservative Prime Ministers, John Major (71% in 1992) and Margaret Thatcher (91% in 1979).
43% cabinet ministers were educated in comprehensive state schools, a rise from 21% of the cabinet in 2010. 7% attended state grammar schools.
Of the 28 ministers attending David Cameron’s new cabinet, 50% went to Oxbridge. This compares with 32% of backbench Conservative MPs in the 2015 Parliament, and 26% of all MPs who attended Oxbridge.
A further 32% were educated at other Russell Group universities (excluding Oxbridge), compared to 25% of backbench Conservatives and 28% of all MPs.
Prime Minister David Cameron continues the academic dynasty at Number 10 that stretches back to before the start of World War 2: with the exception of his immediate predecessor, Gordon Brown, every Prime Minister since 1937 who attended university was educated at one institution – Oxford.
Today’s figures follow Parliamentary Privilege – the MPs, a research brief published by the Sutton Trust that looked at the educational background of the new House of Commons. This data showed that 32% of the new House of Commons were privately educated. Around half (48%) of Conservative MPs attending fee-paying schools, compared to 14% of Liberal Democrats, 5% of SNP MPs for whom we have data and 17% of Labour MPs. Among other MPs, 24% went to a fee-paying school. However, the proportion of privately educated Conservative MPs has fallen from 54% in the last parliament and 73% in 1979.
Dr Lee Elliot Major, Chief Executive of the Sutton Trust said today:
”Parliament and Government should represent the society they represent. The best people should be able to become ministers, regardless of social background. It is good to see more comprehensive educated cabinet ministers, reflecting the schools attended by 90 per cent of children. But with half of the Cabinet still independently educated and half having been to Oxbridge, today’s figures remind us how important it is that we do more to increase levels of social mobility and make sure that bright young people from low and middle income backgrounds have access to the best schools and the best universities.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
Table 1: School and university backgrounds for individual Ministers attending Cabinet | |||||
Ministerial Responsibility | Name | School Type | School | University | |
Prime Minister | David Cameron | Independent | Eton College | Oxford | |
Chancellor of the Exchequer | George Osborne | Independent | St Paul’s School, London | Oxford | |
Foreign Secretary | Philip Hammond | Comprehensive | Shenfield School | Oxford | |
Home Secretary | Theresa May | Independent | St. Juliana’s Convent School for Girls (see note) | Oxford | |
Justice | Michael Gove | Independent | Robert Gordon’s College | Oxford | |
Defence | Michael Fallon | Independent | Epsom College | St Andrews | |
Health | Jeremy Hunt | Independent | Charterhouse | Oxford | |
Education | Nicky Morgan | Independent | Surbiton High School | Oxford | |
Business, Innovation and Skills | Sajid Javid | Comprehensive | Downend Comprehensive | Exeter | |
Small Business | Anna Soubry | Comprehensive | Hartland Comprehensive | Birmingham | |
International Development | Justine Greening | Comprehensive | Oakwood Comp School | Southampton | |
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Liz Truss | Comprehensive | Roundhay School, Leeds | Oxford | |
Energy and Climate Change | Amber Rudd | Independent | Cheltenham Ladies’ College | Edinburgh | |
Transport | Patrick McLoughlin | Comprehensive | Cardinal Griffin Roman Catholic School | None | |
Communities and Local Government | Greg Clark | Comprehensive | St Peter’s Roman Catholic School | Cambridge | |
Work and Pensions | Ian Duncan Smith | Independent | HMS Conway (see note) | None | |
Culture, Media and Sport | John Whittingdale | Independent | Winchester | UCL | |
Cabinet Office | Oliver Letwin | Independent | Eton College | Cambridge | |
Scotland | David Mundell | Comprehensive | Lockerbie Academy | Edinburgh | |
Northern Ireland | Theresa Villiers | Independent | Francis Holland School | Bristol | |
Wales | Stephen Crabb | Comprehensive | Tasker Milward School | Bristol | |
Leader of the House of Lords | Baroness Stowell | Comprehensive | Chilwell Comprehensive School | None | |
Chief Whip | Mark Harper | Comprehensive | Headlands School | Oxford | |
Minister for Employment | Priti Patel | Comprehensive | Watford Grammar School | Keele | |
Minister without Portfolio | Robert Halfon | Independent | Highgate School | Exeter | |
Leader of the House of Commons | Chris Grayling | Selective | Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe | Cambridge | |
Chief Secretary to the Treasury | Greg Hands | Selective | Dr Challenor’s Grammar School | Cambridge | |
Minister of State at the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General | Matthew Hancock | Independent | The King’s School | Oxford | |
Table 2: School backgrounds of Ministers and MPs in the 2015 Parliament | |||||
Total with known data | Independent | Comprehensive | Selective | ||
All MPs | 92% | 32% | 49% | 19% | |
Cabinet | 100% | 50% | 43% | 7% | |
Conservative Backbenchers | 94% | 48% | 33% | 19% |
Table 3: University backgrounds of Ministers and MPs in the 2015 Parliament | ||||||||
Total with known data | Oxbridge | Other Russell Group | Other | None | ||||
All MPs | 96% | 26% | 28% | 35% | 11% | |||
Cabinet | 100% | 50% | 32% | 7% | 11% | |||
Conservative Backbenchers | 97% | 32% | 25% | 32% | 10% |
If you're a journalist with a question about our work, get in touch with Sam or Rocky on the number below. The number is also monitored out of hours.
E: [email protected] T: 0204 536 4642