Oxbridge educated MPs. Why is it a bad thing?

[tinfoilhat]

I was on another thread where I agreed with Anna that parachuting Oxbridge educated candidates into areas they previously know nothing about is a bad thing.

 

Whilst contemplating my fish finger sandwich I asked myself why? Why is it so awful to have highly educated MPs from two of the best universities in the world? There can't be many jobs that attract an MPs salary where a decent degree would be a minimum and an Oxbridge one a bonus. And not everyone was privately educated previous to that - in fact I read of a study showing that the majority of privately educated get fairly average degrees compared with their state educated peers. Only a portion of an MPs job involves talking to the great unwashed - and even then there's quite a lot of follow up work that will need a bit of skill to plough through. Then there's committee work and the scrutinising of documents etc associated with that, then whatever ministerial work might follow if they get that far up the ladder. Is it worth getting someone like white dee in as an MP who may well be representative of her constituency but clueless when it comes to doing the job?

[Mecky]

Think most people are bothered about privileged upbringings at Eaton etc rather than which university they went to and the circles within which these people move, who most people feel are out of touch with the reality faced by most.

[Stan Tamudo]

I was on another thread where I agreed with Anna that parachuting Oxbridge educated candidates into areas they previously know nothing about is a bad thing.

 

Whilst contemplating my fish finger sandwich I asked myself why? Why is it so awful to have highly educated MPs from two of the best universities in the world? There can't be many jobs that attract an MPs salary where a decent degree would be a minimum and an Oxbridge one a bonus. And not everyone was privately educated previous to that - in fact I read of a study showing that the majority of privately educated get fairly average degrees compared with their state educated peers. Only a portion of an MPs job involves talking to the great unwashed - and even then there's quite a lot of follow up work that will need a bit of skill to plough through. Then there's committee work and the scrutinising of documents etc associated with that, then whatever ministerial work might follow if they get that far up the ladder. Is it worth getting someone like white dee in as an MP who may well be representative of her constituency but clueless when it comes to doing the job?

 

With guacamole or tartar sauce?

[tinfoilhat]

With guacamole or tartar sauce?

 

I'm salt of the earth working class me, so ketchup.

 

Thanks for the input though.

 

---------- Post added 08-11-2014 at 18:14 ----------

 

Think most people are bothered about privileged upbringings at Eaton etc rather than which university they went to and the circles within which these people move, who most people feel are out of touch with the reality faced by most.

 

That's a fair enough comment. But would we mind Eton educated social workers or doctors or teachers in rougher areas? Probably not.

[andyofborg]

it's not so much oxbridge it's that from oxbridge they went to some think tank then to being a special advisor and the to be in mp.

 

on the whole they haven't actually experienced anything of the real world which you me and most of those on here do on a daily basis

[Guest sibon]

No problem with the Oxbridge bias in Parliament.

 

Oxbridge needs to make its intake more representative of society though. Then we'd get the best people, not the best connected people.

[Mister M]

I don't think being a product of an Oxbridge education is necessarily a bad thing in itself. Right across the political spectrum Tony Benn, Clement Attlee, Ian Gilmour and Roy Jenkins were four Members of Parliament who attended Oxford University and who, in my opinion, had first class minds, and their privileged education wasn't wasted on them.

 

Of course it doesn't always follow that if you're from a humble background, you'll necessarily have someone who is representative of their constituency, or even have a shred of empathy for people of similarly humble backgrounds....

 

Logically it shouldn't matter which university, if any, an MP went to. However in an increasingly polarised society somehow it does.

 

---------- Post added 08-11-2014 at 18:32 ----------

 

No problem with the Oxbridge bias in Parliament.

 

Oxbridge needs to make its intake more representative of society though. Then we'd get the best people, not the best connected people.

 

Good point, well made

[tinfoilhat]

it's not so much oxbridge it's that from oxbridge they went to some think tank then to being a special advisor and the to be in mp.

 

on the whole they haven't actually experienced anything of the real world which you me and most of those on here do on a daily basis

 

Many teachers go from school, to uni , to teacher training, to - potentially- teaching economics or business studies with no concept how that works outside of textbook.

 

But that's an aside really. Oxbridge is the best. Surely if you are shelling out a few grand a term (at least) for Tarquin to be educated, shouldn't you expect him to be going to a top university?

 

This gives fairly current figures of who goes to Oxbridge http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/27/oxbridge-state-school-numbers-falling

[Blackbeard]

Some of the folks in North Yorkshire are not too happy with the replacement for William Hague, he is Rishi Sunak.

 

A top ranked analyst at Goldman Sachs

Winchester College – Head Boy

Oxford University – 1st in Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Stanford University – Fulbright Scholar, MBA (Master of Business

 

http://www.rishisunak.com/

 

He sounds like a very bright guy but is he right for the North Yorkshire seat they ask? Bet he can't drink 14 pints of beer a day like what William did.

[lines]

on the whole they haven't actually experienced anything of the real world which you me and most of those on here do on a daily basis

 

This I agree with.

 

 

As for education, have you (not specifically you borg) ever debated, er argued with someone without a good education? No not always an argument but quite often facile and of no substance, but virtually always full of half truth propaganda headlines!