Kelly gets top job
Britain has a new Education Secretary today following the resignation of David Blunkett last night. Charles Clarke has been moved to the Home Office to take his place, with the former Cabinet Office Minister Ruth Kelly taking up the education portfolio.
The mother of four children was elected to the marginal seat of Bolton West in 1997. Her previous career highlights have included reporting on economics for the Guardian and a stint at the Bank of England. Her appointments at the Treasury filling the roles of both Economic Secretary (2001) and Financial Secretary (2002) were a logical step.
However, following the resignation of Andrew Smith in September this year, Ms Kelly was moved to the Cabinet Office where she had been Labour's deputy election co-ordinator, working alongside Alan Milburn in drafting the party's manifesto for the next election.
The in-tray for the incoming Minister is daunting. Firstly, the Department for Education are overseeing reform of the 14-19 education sector following the reforms proposed by the former Ofsted chief Mike Tomlinson. The new Minister will also have to prepare universities across England for the implementation in 2006 of the new system of top-up fees, part of the recent Higher Education Bill.
Meanwhile, the Schools Standards Minister, David Miliband, has been moved to fill Ms Kelly’s old job at the Cabinet Office. There is much upheaval at the Department for Education and Skills.
The main question for students is whether the new minister can work with the NUS to form an appropriate strategy for the implementation of variable tuition fees. NUS President Kat Fletcher said that the organisation was looking forward to working with Ms Kelly, and took the opportunity to express disdain at Mr Clarke’s legacy. He was, after all, a former NUS president.
We wait and see how this relatively unknown quantity performs in the thankless world of the government's education policies.
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