As the dust begins to settle after a historic reshuffle, we take a look at the new Cabinet and their higher education backgrounds. Our initial analysis reveals:
- 91% went to university (one was at Sandhurst, one at Agricultural College)
- Two thirds (67%) went to a Russell Group university
- Nearly half (45%) were at Oxbridge (10 at Oxford and 5 at Cambridge)
The subject mix is firmly in favour of the humanities (57%) and social sciences (30%), with seemingly only one minister having studied a STEM subject, Alok Sharma, International Development Secretary, who studied Applied Physics.
Subject classifications are subjective and indicative only, for example Politics, Philosophy and Economics degree has been classified as a social science here. Full course details are listed below.
| Job | Name | Undergraduate Degree at | Subject Studied |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson | Balliol College, Oxford | Classics |
| Foreign Secretary | Dominic Raab | Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford | Law |
| Chancellor | Sajid Javid | University of Exeter | Economics and Politics |
| Home Secretary | Priti Patel | Keele University | Economics |
| Brexit Secretary | Stephen Barclay | Peterhouse, Cambridge (after Sandhurst) | History |
| Defence Secretary | Ben Wallace | (Sandhurst) | |
| Justice Secretary | Robert Buckland | University of Durham | Law |
| Health Secretary | Matt Hancock | Exeter College, Oxford | Politics, Philosophy and Economics |
| Education Secretary | Gavin Williamson | University of Bradford | Social Sciences |
| International Trade Secretary | Liz Truss | Merton College, Oxford | Politics, Philosophy and Economics |
| Business Secretary | Andrea Leadsom | University of Warwick | Political Science |
| Environment Secretary | Theresa Villiers | University of Bristol | Law |
| Transport Secretary | Grant Shapps | Manchester Polytechnic | Business and finance |
| Housing Secretary | Robert Jenrick | St John’s College, Oxford | History |
| International Development Secretary | Alok Sharma | University of Salford | Applied Physics |
| Culture Secretary | Nicky Morgan | St Hugh’s College, Oxford | Jurisprudence |
| Work and Pensions Secretary | Amber Rudd | Edinburgh University | History |
| Lords Leader | Baroness Evans | New Hall, Cambridge | Social and Political Sciences |
| Scotland Secretary | Alister Jack | Heriot-Watt University | Unknown |
| Wales Secretary | Alun Cairns | University of Wales, Newport | Business Administration |
| Northern Ireland Secretary | Julian Smith | University of Birmingham | English and History |
| Chairman | James Cleverly | Thames Valley University | Hospitality Management |
| Minister of State for Home Department | Brandon Lewis | University of Buckingham | Economics |
| Chief Secretary to the Treasury | Rishi Sunak | Lincoln College, Oxford | Politics, Philosophy and Economics |
| Chief Whip | Mark Spencer | (Shuttleworth Agricultural College) | |
| Attorney-General | Geoffrey Cox | Downing College, Cambridge | Law and Classics |
| Universities Minister | Jo Johnson | Balliol College, Oxford | Modern History |
| Cabinet Office Minister | Michael Gove | Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford | English |
| Commons Leader | Jacob Rees-Mogg | Trinity College, Oxford | History |
| Minister of State for Housing | Esther McVey | Queen Mary University of London | Law |
| Paymaster-General | Oliver Dowden | Trinity College, Cambridge | Law |
| Minister of State for Energy | Kwasi Kwarteng | Trinity College, Cambridge | Classics and History |
| Minister of State for Cabinet Office | Jake Berry | Sheffield University | Law |
The above table is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of compiling.
It would be helpful to know how this compares historically with other post war cabinets
It’s a shame that Amber Rudd studied history but, if trends are concerned, will probably lead us back to the dark ages.
It’s a shame that Amber Rudd studied history and if trends are concerned will probably lead us back to the dark ages.
I cannot see how the statistics add up, unless law is being treated as one of the humanities in this. A bit odd if it is.
Unlike gender imbalance, the lessons of CP Snow’s “two cultures” do not seem to have trickled down to the political classes. Less than 5% of the members of Cabinet have read a STEM subject to degree level. Cabinet’s understanding of scientific principles and risk analysis has been demonstrated most recently by the Corona epidemic. The consequences cannot be underestimated.
Just one scientist. No wonder the Government is struggling to get to grips with this pandemic. How on Earth did we get to this appalling situation in a 21st Century British Cabinet made up solely of arts graduates. This is a cabinet almost totally void of any understanding of science and technology. This must change.
In this time of crisis, the analytically trained minds of scientists should be in government. At present, there is only one science graduate in the cabinet, Alok Sharma. Why?
Are there any data on the subjects taken by Cabinet ministers’ at ‘A’ level?
Well it would seem that at least one will be able to solve a linear first order DE, state the heat capacity for water and draw a peptide bond or ozone. At the end of the day we may think we are in charge but:
The world works by nature’s laws first and man’s second.
What about Therese Coffey
Ph D in chemistry
With the exception of 1 cabinet minister there are none who have a suitable science degree that is appropriate to make valid decisions regarding the supposed pandemic. If they had maybe they would have known that the inventor (Gerry Mullis) had said that the use of the PCR test is not suitable for determining whether people are sick or not, especially considering the 45 cycle rate chosen. This will produce 97% false positives so has the only effect of panicking everyone who sees the increasing cases as meaning more people are being tested rather than meaning more people are suffering from the Covid disease. This is extremely disingenuous and I would expect far better from our government than this. In fact the government’s response to this disease has been totally unacceptable. If the government was genuinely concerned about our health then we would have been advised to take sufficient supplements of vitamin D3 and C rather than locking down the health and restricting access to the beach and parks. HCQ has been called a wonder drug to prevent and treat Covid diseases by Dr Fauci over a decade ago. Similarly Ivermectin has been very effective at treating all stages of the disease in India. These are both well known drugs that have excellent safety records after decades of use. Why are we being asked to take a MRNA shot that caused the lab animals to develop blood clots and yet has received the Emergency Use Authorisation and is being pushed to everyone who will take it without the proper informed consent?
The government has followed the Rockerfella’s Lockstep document extremely closely so far. If this continues will we be expecting arbitrary arrests for no good reason other than as a show of strength to force compliance of further dragonian measure?
If the experts who were involved with the early development of the MRNA shots are correct then the Spike protein that these shots instruct our immune system to produce may start attacking the heart and the brain tissues whilst causing blood clots in others rather than just the Covid virus intended. Over 5000 have died due to these jabs in the US according to VAERS. A Harvard study suggests that less than 1% are recorded by this register so there could be many more effected.
If we are to be successful in mitigating the risks then the censorship and hostility must stop as many good doctors are being threatened with loss of their jobs and worse. Scientists need to be able to discuss their findings freely and free speech must be defended as a fundamental human right.
We were it would seem very lucky that the virus was not the worst 1 that could of been released or a real pandemic might of occurred. The Spanish Flu of 1918 resulted in a third of the global population dead and 10% sick. This outbreak has resulted in less deaths compared to a decade ago and so is fortunately not a real pandemic.
Why are cabinet ministers qualified in their field. Iād Matt Hancock study exconomics and was put in charge of health?
Low productivity in UK. British Oxbridge elite dislike and ignorance of science and technology.Why pick arrogant and ignorant arts ,law graduates etc to run a modern economy?