As author of Tony Blair’s reforms to the education system,
Minister for Schools and Transport Secretary, Lord Andrew Adonis was one of the
most important shapers of domestic policy in the New Labour government.
Born in 1963, for much of his childhood he was brought up in
care before winning a local education authority scholarship to Kingham High
boarding school. From there his rise was meteoric: he graduated with a first in
Modern History from Keble College Oxford, before being appointed to a
fellowship in History & Politics at Nuffield College. He combined this with
his duties as an Oxford city councillor for the SDP from 1987-91, and then after
stints at the Financial Times and the Observer he worked for Tony Blair at the
Number 10 policy unit from 1998-2005, where he drove Labour’s education agenda.
The creation of academies (independently run state schools) has revolutionized
the state sector, with results far exceeding expectations. He talks to Jonathan
Metzer about his experiences in the last government and the challenges ahead.
As a former Oxford academic and SDP councillor what
set you on the path to becoming a Labour cabinet minister? Which people have
influenced you the most on that journey?
Roy Jenkins and Tony Blair. Roy taught me that the
only point of being in national politics is to do something rather than be
something. No-one ever remembers former ministers, however senior, only the one
who achieve something. Tony Blair taught me you could lead the Labour party
decisively in the direction of radical reform.
What do you think is the key to a good state
education system?
Strong institutions and outstanding teachers. The
academies programme has gone a long way to securing the first of these.
Empowering schools and – in particular – great headteachers and govenors, has
had a dramatic effect on results. Towards the end of my new
book, Education, Education, Education, I set out some of the
remaining reforms including reforming the post-16 qualification system;
expanding under-fives provision and above all a new deal for teachers. We need
to make teaching the number one profession in the country. Teach First has gone
a long way to achieving that but we must go further. My ideas on what we should
be doing are all set out in my book.
When you worked for Tony Blair at the Policy Unit
and then as Minister for Schools what was it like getting momentum behind the
Academies programme?
It was hard work! The first half of my book
chronicles the process in detail. I had to drive the whole thing, relentlessly,
for ten years! It didn’t help that it took us some time to decide on the
academies programme but even once we were up and running we were constantly
fighting vested interests, in Whitehall, government and education. At one point
I talk about the unholy alliance of the do nothing left and the do nothing
right, confronted by that kind of united conservatism, it sometimes seemed as
if we’d never get the necessary momentum behind the programme.
You were at the forefront of the failed negotiations
between Labour and the Liberal Democrats after the 2010 election: what was it
like in that six day period before the formation of the coalition government?
Was a Lib-Lab coalition really on the cards?
Nick Clegg was never interested in working with
Labour. He strung us along as far as he could in order to get more out of the
Tories. The truth of the matter is that he had made up his mind. He liked
Cameron and realised they weren’t too far apart ideologically. Where they were
– notably on Europe – they ignored the topic.
What do you make of the coalition government so
far?
It’s intellectually bankrupt. It came to power
promising radical constitutional reform and austerity to cure recession. Both
parts of that equation have clearly failed. All the big Lib Dem constitutional
reforms have collapsed. On the economy, Plan A has failed and there is no Plan
B.
As chief architect of the Academies programme what
do you think about the policies Michael Gove is pursuing as Education Secretary?
Instead of tinkering with GCSEs, Gove should be
pursuing real reform of post-16 qualifications. We need an ABacc similar to the
IB and a corresponding TechBacc. He’s using up energy on a repackaging that is
ideologically driven and gives a taste of the direction a Tory majority
government would go. Their right flank believe that a certain proportion of the
population should fail to get any qualifications on principle. This is
educationally retrograde.
What do you think will be Labour's biggest challenges
if we form a government after the next election?
Reshaping our economy to work for the many not the
few. We need a strategy for jobs and growth that will work; a strategy that
doesn’t leave the weakest in society to fend for themselves; a strategy that
doesn’t lead to an unemployment crisis for young people. Who knows how many
different plans the Tories will get through before the next election? Ours
needs to be ready to go on day one.
What is your advice to anyone thinking of a career
in public service?
Consider Teach First. There is no better route into
public service and no better first entry on your CV. Oxford should be providing
two, three, four times the number of Teach First teachers as it did last year.
Inspirational teachers who went to Oxbridge is the most effective long term
solution to the access challenges faced by both universities.
Andrew Adonis’ book Education, Education, Education: Reforming England’s Schools is
published by Biteback and available here: https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/education-education-education-paperback
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