Sir Bruce Liddington (1949 – 28 July 2020) was the schools commissioner in 2006 under

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

's Government. He came from a poor area of

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

and did his degree in English at

Queen Mary College , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

, and a PGCE in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

. He started his teaching career in

Conisbrough Conisbrough () is a town within the City of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is roughly midway between Doncaster and Rotherham, and is built alongside the River Don at . It has a ward population (Conisbrough and Denaby) of 14,333. ...

, and rose to headteacher at

Northampton School for Boys Northampton School for Boys (NSB) is a secondary school in Northampton, England. It was founded as Northampton Town and County Grammar School in 1541 by Thomas Chipsey, Mayor of Northampton. Education in England#Stages of compulsory education, Yea ...

which he improved then and changed its status from a

LEA Lea or LEA may refer to: Places Australia * Lea River, Tasmania, Australia * Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows * RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA" England * Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish * Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...

school to a

grant maintained school Grant-maintained schools or GM schools were state schools in England and Wales between 1988 and 1998 that had opted out of local government control, being funded directly by a grant from central government. Some of these schools had selective a ...

. For this he received a knighthood. He moved to the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

advising on the details of converting to academy status. He was employed as a senior civil servant responsible for the roll out of academies. Liddington became boss of the academy sponsor

E-ACT E-ACT is a multi-academy trust responsible for 28 academies in England. As an academy trust, it is an exempt charity regulated by the Department for Education. E-ACT splits its 28 academies into two regional clusters called 'North' and 'South', ...

, outlining his mission 'to improve the lot of the most-deprived children'. Liddington died on 28 July 2020, at the age of 70.

Early background

His mother worked in a shoe factory and his father was a stonemason, he attended Wellingborough Grammar School. In his gap year he worked in a London

secondary modern school A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usuall ...

as an unqualified teacher.

Teaching career

He did his first degree in English at Queen Mary College, and moved on to do a PGCE in Cambridge where he listened to a lecture by the prominent chief education officer of

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, Sir Alec Clegg. Clegg believed schools should pursue "the education of the spirit … the child's loves and hates … hopes and fears", and Liddington who said in a ''Guardian'' interview "I've always been attracted to kids who've had a hard time in life", was inspired to work in the deprived mining community of

. He found the low levels of aspiration that he witnessed frustrating. After three years he went to the states to study for a masters.

References

Education in England Knights Bachelor 1949 births 2020 deaths {{England-academic-bio-stub