The Guardian claims that Michael Gove has been demoted from Education Secretary to Chief Whip because with the general election less than a year away he has become a ‘toxic liability’.
Whatever the reason, this self-appointed arbiter of ‘the best that has been thought and said’ (see the published aims of England’s new national curriculum) has been nothing if not colourful in his insults, including during periods of statutory consultation when the right to disagree with ministers and their ideas is supposedly what such exercises are about. (Remember ‘enemies of promise … bleating bogus pop psychology … Marxists hell bent on destroying our schools …’ and of course ‘The Blob’?)
But hold on: with the more emollient face of DfE represented by Secretary of State Nicky Morgan be clouded by the scowl of Nick Gibb, removed from DfE in 2012 and now back as Minister of State?
Let us know what you think about Gove’s legacy for our children’s primary education, and about prospects for 2014/15 under DfE’s new/old team. For there’s no doubt that under Gove a great deal changed, and his tenure deserves proper assessment.
Read ‘The best that has been thought and said?’, Robin Alexander’s keynote at the launch of the CPR Trust.