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26 October 2022

Sunak’s cabinet is overwhelmingly private school educated

By Ben Walker

More than six in ten of those attending Rishi Sunak‘s first cabinet are privately educated, research from the Sutton Trust has found.

The proportion, 61 per cent, compares favourably to that of Liz Truss‘s cabinet, in which 68 per cent of ministers went to private school, but poorly to Labour cabinets.

The prime minister himself went to Winchester College, an elite boarding school where fees today are over £45,000 a year. The holders of all four of the great offices of state (prime minister, chancellor, home secretary and foreign secretary) went to independent schools.

For context, just 7 per cent of the UK population is privately educated.

[See also: How Keir Starmer plans to take on Rishi Sunak]

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