Gillian Keegan’s honesty is refreshing – more MPs should take note

If only more ministers could say that they do not have strong views on simplistic solutions to complex problems, writes John Rentoul

How refreshing for a minister not to have an opinion (Getty Images)

Gillian Keegan, who has been education secretary for six weeks, has already made an impression. Her very appointment was a statement, because she didn’t do A-levels. She left school at 16 to be an apprentice at a car factory in Kirkby, and later took a degree in business studies at Liverpool John Moores University.

When she became a junior minister for apprenticeships and skills, she was unusual as a minister for something she had done herself. Last month, 11 days after her appointment to the cabinet, she was interviewed by Nick Robinson of the BBC, a 40-minute interview that more experienced cabinet ministers might hesitate before agreeing to. She came across as straightforward and confident, and one of the interesting things she said was that cabinet ministers should just admit it when they don’t know something.

A few days ago, in her first appearance as secretary of state before the Education Committee of MPs, which scrutinises her department, she was as good as her word. Pressed by Andrew Lewer, a Conservative MP who wants more grammar schools, she said: “I honestly don’t have any strong views on grammar schools, but I do have a strong view that 93 per cent of children will never get to go to one… and we need to make sure that they have a fantastic education.”