Damian Hinds has replaced Justine Greening as education secretary, who resigned after refusing a move to the role of work and pensions secretary in Theresa May’s cabinet reshuffle.
Mr. Hinds attended a Catholic grammar school in Altrincham before going on to study politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University. He later spent eighteen years working in the pubs, brewing and hotel industries both in Britain and abroad.
Mr. Hinds’ political career came to fruition in 2010, when he was elected Member of Parliament for East Hampshire. Since then, he has sat on the Commons Education Select Committee and chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility. As chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility, Mr. Hinds published a report entitled ‘Seven Key Truths about Social Mobility’. This argued that the greatest leverage point for social mobility occurs mainly at home in a child’s first three years, but that “you can also break the cycle with education”. Mr. Hinds is a former minister for work and pensions.
The new education secretary will face pressure to address issues of school funding, teacher shortages and university tuition fees; all of which were a key issue during the 2017 election.
On Twitter, Mr. Hinds wrote that he was “looking forward to working with the great teachers and lecturers in our schools, colleges and universities giving people the opportunities to make the most of their lives”.
