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Gavin Williamson: 9 facts about the new education secretary

Gavin Williamson has been announced as the new education secretary, in Boris Johnson’s first cabinet line-up.

Here is what we know about him

1. Born in 1976, Gavin Williamson is 43 years old. The average age of an education secretary is 49.5. However he is far from being the youngest to ever take the role. That honour goes to Ruth Kelly, who was just 36 when appointed.

2. He was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. He is the third education secretary from Yorkshire, after David Blunkett and Justine Greening.

3. Unusually, he attended a comprehensive secondary school, but he is not the first to have done so. Greening claimed that title when she was appointed back in 2016.

4. An often touchy subject, but as the role involves children so directly it will be mentioned at times: Gavin Williamson has two children. This is as close as physically possible to the average, which is 1.69. The most common number of children is zero.

5. Williamson studied social sciences at the University of Bradford.

6. He has been a Conservative for most of his life, and served as chair of Conservative Students, the precursor to Conservative Future, while at university.

7. Williamson worked in the manufacturing industry, as managing director of fireplace firm Elgin & Hall and later as boss of Aynsley China.

8. He has a strong voting record in favour of greater school autonomy – voting in favour of more freedoms and to support the academies programme 100 per cent of the time.

9. His predecessor, Damian Hinds, was in role for 563 days. The average is 842. If Williamson stays in office for the average number of days he will leave on November 13, 2021.

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3 Comments

  1. Stephen C

    Is this a serious website? It reads like one of those listicles that are seemingly translated from Mandarin by Google.

    No mention of him being sacked a few months ago?

    Really?

    is the editor of this website sunbathing today?

  2. I stewart

    Mrs Nay has rather put a spike in wheel of Boris’s education policy , by granting a 2.75% increase to teachers, of which 2% has to be found from existing stretched budgets set months ago by schools. Also how is Boris going to fund the 43% increase in employer teachers pension contributions, not to mention the financial impact of the age discrimination court of appeal case. This will leave little scope to increase real real resources for schools.

  3. Patrick Newman

    To balance budgets schools will have to sack teachers and TAs. I thought the reasons for the increase was recruitment and retention – bizarre!