Newly-elected MP, for town whose only two secondary schools are run by same academy trust, has backed change of control

The newly-elected Liberal Democrat MP for a town which has been dogged by controversy over a distant academy trust’s running of its two secondary schools called last month for the chain to lose control of them.

Ian Sollom, who has been elected as MP for the Cambridgeshire town of St Neots, joined the Conservative he beat into second place in yesterday’s general election, Anthony Browne, in calling for Longsands and/or Ernulf Academies to leave the Astrea Academy Trust. This development came with Mr Browne having said that the-then Conservative government was “taking seriously” parental concerns about the schools – raising a question as to how the newly-elected Labour government will respond.

Mr Sollom also appeared to express scepticism about the recent “good” Ofsted inspection result for Longsands, adding that the inspectorate needed reform.

The comments came at an election hustings three weeks ago, at which none of the six prospective parliamentary candidates in attendance appeared unequivocally supportive either of the academies system, or of Astrea’s running of the schools specifically.

The election of Mr Sollom came alongside that of several other MPs which may have implications for academy controversies covered on this website, and which are detailed below.

The detail