Politics

Kit Malthouse: 12 facts about the new education secretary

Meet the man who has replaced James Cleverly in Liz Truss's first reshuffle

Meet the man who has replaced James Cleverly in Liz Truss's first reshuffle

Downing Street has announced that Kit Malthouse is the new education secretary following a reshuffle by the new prime minister Liz Truss.

  1. Born in 1966, Malthouse is 55 years old. This is older than the average for education secretaries, but he is a long way off being the oldest. Keith Joseph was 63.
  2. Malthouse is the MP for North West Hampshire, but he is not the first education secretary to represent the county in recent history. Damian Hinds was the MP for East Hampshire.
  3. Like his recent predecessors Michelle Donelan and James Cleverly, Malthouse was first elected in 2015. He has been a work and pensions minister and crime and policing minister, but served more recently as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
  4. He is the fourth education secretary in just over two months, and the fifth in the past year. Cleverly, now foreign secretary, was in post for less than two months. His predecessor Donelan served for just 35 hours. Malthouse will no doubt be hoping for a longer tenure.
  5. Born in Liverpool, Malthouse studied at Sudley County Primary school and Liverpool College, which was at the time a private school but has since become an academy, before studying politics and economics at Newcastle University.
  6. After graduation, Malthouse moved to London and qualified as a chartered accountant, working for Deloitte and Touche. He was also involved in a “number of startups” including County Finance Group, of which he remains chair and a majority shareholder.
  7. He was elected to Westminster Council in 1998 and became its deputy leader, standing down in 2006. He was elected to the London Assembly two years later, the same year as Cleverly was elected to the same body.
  8. In 2008, London mayor Boris Johnson appointed Malthouse as his deputy mayor for policing, a role he held for four years before becoming deputy major for business and enterprise.
  9. An often touchy subject, but as the role involves children so directly it will be mentioned at times: Malthouse has three.
  10. He is perhaps best known for the eponymous “Malthouse compromise”, a Brexit plan he brokered between leave and remain-supporting MPs in 2019.
  11. During his time as policing minister, Malthouse said he believed schools should teach boys how to treat women and girls with respect. His comments came in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard.
  12. While Johnson was on holiday this summer, Malthouse was responsible for coordinating the government’s response to the extreme heatwave in July, and was criticised for telling schools to stay open.

Latest education roles from

IT Technician

IT Technician

Harris Academy Morden

Teacher of Geography

Teacher of Geography

Harris Academy Orpington

Lecturer/Assessor in Electrical

Lecturer/Assessor in Electrical

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College

Director of Management Information Systems (MIS)

Director of Management Information Systems (MIS)

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College

Exams Assistant

Exams Assistant

Richmond and Hillcroft Adult & Community College

Lecturer Electrical Installation

Lecturer Electrical Installation

Solihull College and University Centre

Sponsored posts

Sponsored post

It’s Education’s Time to Shine: Celebrate your Education Community in 2025!

The deadline is approaching to nominate a colleague, team, whole school or college for the 2025 Pearson National Teaching...

SWAdvertorial
Sponsored post

Navigating NPQ Funding Cuts: An Apprenticeship Success Story

Last year’s NPQ funding cuts meant that half of England’s teachers faced costs of up to £4,000 to complete...

SWAdvertorial
Sponsored post

Embedding Formative Assessment: not just a box-ticking exercise but something long-term and meaningful for all

Our EFA programme has been proven to help schools achieve better GCSE results, as evidenced by the EEF. Find...

SWAdvertorial
Sponsored post

Building capacity in family support to tackle low school attendance 

Persistent and severe school absence impacts children, families, and communities—especially in disadvantaged areas. School-Home Support’s Attendance Support and Development Programme...

SWAdvertorial

More from this theme

Politics

‘School profile’ plans revealed amid ‘new era on standards’

'Significantly strengthened' accountability will also 'raise the bar on what we expect from schools', Phillipson to say

Freddie Whittaker
Politics

Labour cost-cutting spree now hits STEM

Science teacher training and physics take-up programmes cut despite Starmer’s pledge to make England an AI ‘superpower’

Jack Dyson
Politics

Phillipson’s first education committee: 8 things we learned

Reforming the national funding formula, international SEND solutions and admissions interventions all on the agenda

Schools Week Reporter
Politics

Children’s wellbeing and schools bill: Committee calls for evidence

Intense lobbying expected as bill seeks to curtail academy freedoms

Freddie Whittaker

Your thoughts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

2 Comments

  1. Yet another Minister of Education with no personal experience of working in education. Can’t we take a leaf out of Canada’s book and give roles to people who have worked in the field themselves? I’m a trained teacher with over twenty years experience who is just appalled that people who work in education will be led (once again) by someone who can’t possibly have a clue about what they are doing. How intensely depressing. I sincerely hope that he does a better job than most of the other Education Ministers in recent history.