Laura Trott named shadow education secretary

Laura Trott has been named shadow education secretary in one of Kemi Badenoch’s first appointments to her front-bench team.

The Conservative MP for Sevenoaks in Kent, who was previously chief secretary to the Treasury when the Tories were in government, joined the shadow cabinet just hours before education secretary Bridget Phillipson was due to make a statement in the House of Commons about higher education reform and take questions from MPs.

It was expected that Ms Phillipson would announce university fees will rise in line with inflation, with their annual cost rising from £9,250 to £9,535 from September.

Fees have only risen by £250 since the £9,000 cap was first introduced in 2012 and were frozen by the last Conservative government since 2017.

Ms Trott replaces Damian Hinds, who has served as shadow education secretary since the Conservatives lost power in July.

Ms Badenoch, who was elected as Conservative Party leader on Saturday, has also appointed Neil O’Brien as a shadow education minister.

Mr O’Brien, a former levelling-up minister, has been one of the most trenchant critics of the number of international students coming to the UK in recent years.

He has called for the abolition of the two-year graduate work visa – which was reintroduced by Boris Johnson in 2020 – which he labelled the “Deliveroo visa”, alleging that a high number of students are coming to the UK primarily to work in low-skilled sectors both during and after their studies.

It was not yet clear, however, which area of the education portfolio he would shadow, with the higher education brief now covered by Baroness Smith of Malvern, who is minister for skills.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com