Former education secretary Gillian Keegan was among more than half a dozen ex-education ministers to lose in the general election as the Conservatives suffered a historic defeat.
Three of the four MPs in the ministerial team at the Department for Education going into the election lost overnight, with former children’s minister David Johnston and former skills minister Luke Hall also being voted out. Former schools minister Damian Hinds was re-elected as MP for East Hampshire.
The losses come after Labour won the general election in a result that saw a record number of Conservative cabinet members voted out.
Ms Keegan had been education secretary since October 2022 and MP for Chichester from 2017 but lost last night to Liberal Democrat candidate Jess Brown-Fuller.
Donelan, education secretary for less than 3 days, also lost seat
Ms Keegan previously held the education secretary seat with a majority of 21,490 at the last election in 2019. When she moved to take the DfE helm in Sanctuary Buildings, she became the fifth education secretary in four months.
Michelle Donelan, the former science secretary, who was education secretary for less than three full days in the summer of 2022 during the turmoil towards the end of Boris Johnson’s time as prime minister, lost overnight to the Liberal Democrats’ Brian Mathew, in Melksham and Devizes.
Mr Hinds was one of four former education secretaries who held onto their seats for the Conservatives along with Gavin Williamson, James Cleverly and Kit Malthouse.
Arguably the most high-profile defeat of the election was former prime minister Liz Truss who lost to Labour in South West Norfolk. She was in the DfE from 2012 to 2014 as childcare and education minister.
Jonathan Gullis, a former teacher who held the schools minister brief during Ms Truss’ short time as prime minister in September and October 2022, also lost overnight to Labour in Stoke-on-Trent North.
Other former DfE ministers who lost overnight included Vicky Ford, Kelly Tolhurst and Brendan Clarke-Smith, who had all previously been Conservative government children’s ministers.
Former ministers stepped down
A number of former education secretaries and schools ministers had already announced their intention to stand down at the general election - including two of the most prominent politicians in education in recent times.
Michael Gove announced he was standing down after almost 20 years as an MP. He became the first Conservative education secretary this century when the Tory-led coalition government was formed in 2010. He implemented influential reforms including the mass expansion of the academies programme and changes to exams and the national curriculum.
Another key education figure who stood down at this election was former schools minister Nick Gibb. He held this post three times and for the majority of the last decade. During his time as minister, he promoted the use of synthetic phonics in primary schools and the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) in secondaries.
Former education secretary Nadhim Zahawi also stepped down at this general election. He replaced Mr Williamson in 2021, and introduced a schools bill and plans to ensure all schools were in multi-academy trusts by 2030. He left the post to become chancellor in 2022.
Another former schools minister who stood down at this election was Robin Walker. He was appointed to the role following Mr Gibb’s removal from the post in September 2021. He subsequently resigned in the summer of 2022 and had been the chair of the Commons Education Committee from November 2022.
Other former education ministers who stood down at this election include Robert Halfon, who was skills minister and before this was a longstanding chair of the Commons Education Committee, and former children’s ministers Will Quince, Tim Loughton and Sir Robert Goodwill.
