27 Jan 2011

The Old Etonians who STILL run Britain

If you didn’t see Andrew Neil’s programme you can catch it on BBC i-Player (Posh and Posher. Why Public School Boys Run Britain).

He runs a black and white clip of footage from a 1959 Labour party broadcast proclaiming that “13 Tory Ministers wear the same old school tie”.

You may be wondering how many Old Etonians there are in government jobs in 2011. The answer (drumroll) is 12! (Andrew Neil in his programme quite rightly says 8 Old Etonian MPs are in the Government but I’ve thrown in Peers who hold jobs in government too – that’s how, a bit later on in the programme, he gets to the percentage figure of 10 per cent of Ministers being OE’s).

Here’s the list:
David Cameron
Lord Howell (Foreign Office minister)
Henry Bellingham (Foreign Office minister)
Lord Astor of Hever (Defence minister)
Hugo Swire (Northern Ireland minister)
Sir George Young (Leader of the Commons)
Oliver Letwin (Cabinet Office minister)
Nick Hurd (Cabinet Office minister)
Philip Dunne (whip)
Bill Wiggin (whip)
Lord DeMauley (whip)
Lord Sassoon (Treasury minister)

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