I’ve been lucky enough to work with our inimitable PM for the past two and a half years as his Parliamentary Private Secretary – life has never been dull. We’ve had a hung parliament, an election, Brexit, Covid, vaccinations and the rest to keep us busy.
But last Thursday I had a call from the Prime Minister asking me to take a new job – one as the Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills in the Department for Education. Education has long been one of my obsessions. Both my parents were primary and middle school teachers and, after I graduated, I taught first A Level and then undergraduate history before moving into education policy and politics. My new brief will cover Further Education, T Levels, apprenticeships, adult education, and a number of other issues central to the Prime Minister’s mission to Level Up – bringing opportunity to those people and areas which have been left behind. It’s a truly exciting task, one that will be a big but essential challenge as we move out of the world of Covid restrictions and start to rebuild the great British economy.
Here in the Brentwood and Ongar constituency we do not have a further education college but many local students travel to Harlow, Chelmsford and Havering for FE. I am looking forward to visiting the Havering College campus later this year to meet Brentwood students and to hear their views on the Government’s agenda. I also know that many local firms offer apprenticeships, and I fully intend to gear some of my constituency visits around meeting them and learning about their experiences.
Despite the new workload, I will still be working in the constituency most Fridays as well as every day when Parliament is not sitting. And I will still be living in Ongar and working on the issues that matter most to the community. As ever, please get in touch if there are any issues you think I should have on my radar.
Photo Credit: Ian Davidson
