Is Labour government’s support for two controversial Conservative-era policies explained by the personalities behind them?
There has been a revolving door of political change since Gove and Gibb were running the DfE. So why do we see policy continuity? Image: iStock.
Embrace of all-must-be-academies drive, and Nick Gibb’s favoured Oak National Academy, provoke questions. Plus: one of England’s most well-known school leaders pops up in an unexpected place.
What lay behind the Labour government’s striking change of position, in taking up a policy which had once been a flagship preoccupation of its Conservative predecessors?
And why is it now lined up in enthusiastic support of another Tory-era innovation, despite Bridget Phillipson having seemed to express a degree of scepticism while in opposition?
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By Warwick Mansell for EDUCATION UNCOVERED
Published: 13 March 2026
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