Conservative takeover of education’s public bodies continues with Birbalsingh announcement at Social Mobility Commission

The announcement that the traditionalist free school headteacher, Katharine Birbalsingh, is the government’s preferred candidate to oversee the Social Mobility Commission marks another step in what seems an accelerating takeover of education-related public bodies by conservatives.

Birbalsingh’s is the sixth prominent appointment in recent years to publicly-funded bodies which influence education policymaking of someone who has traditionalist views on schooling, which appeals to right-of-centre ministers.

Indeed, she is the fourth high-profile traditionalist in the past 12 months to emerge as the candidate for a prominent government-appointed role which is important to the education debate.

Tracking this seems vital, for anyone seeking to understand how power currently works in education policymaking.

Birbalsingh position

Birbalsingh’s recent career history, and public profile as both a “super-strict” headteacher and a politically outspoken “small c conservative”, is well-known. Understandably, then, it featured in yesterday’s coverage of the announcement that she is the government’s preferred candidate to chair the Social Mobility Commission.