This article was taken from the December 2011 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online. "According to stereotype, Tory governments are made up of public-school boys, whereas Labour governments are made up of grammar-school boys," says researcher Miriam Quick, who compiled this infographic of the educational backgrounds of Cabinet ministers from 1945 to now. "We were surprised by just how true it was."
Quick and designer Stefanie Posavec found that between 1945 and 2010, 80 per cent of ministers in Conservative Cabinets received at least some private education, with 21 per cent having attended Eton and then Oxbridge. The picture is more complex for Labour Cabinets.
Since 1945, 33 per cent of their members went to grammar schools and marginally fewer (32 per cent) were educated privately.
University education also correlates with party. Tory Cabinets always contain more Oxbridge than non- Oxbridge graduates, but so also did Labour's until 1974. Gordon Brown's and Tony Blair's Cabinets had more from non-Oxbridge universities. "It's interesting just how few politicians buck the trend," says Quick.
Check out the high-res version of the infographic in the gallery below.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
