Although David Willetts has seen the biggest fall in places since last year, it’s notable that he should still be on the list at all. Carrying considerable clout in policy circles, Willetts maintains his interest in HE through his think tank roles and teaching at King’s College London. He’s also writing a book about higher education policy.
Taking the Conservative whip in the House of Lords, he will likely support the Higher Education and Research Bill when it reaches the upper house, but his pronouncements on the Bill will be carefully scrutinised, and many less-knowledgeable peers may look to take his lead, which could make him uniquely influential. It could be argued that these reforms are just an extension of an agenda he began in 2010, even if in private he may be a little critical of some of the harder edges of the new policy proposals. If Theresa May had not been elected leader of the Tory Party, Willetts would likely have a bigger role in today’s Conservative Party. But the new government is now sensationally rolling back the policy of ending grammar schools, which Willetts fronted up and which caused such a fuss in the early Cameron years as the Tory modernisers had their fleeting ‘Clause IV’ moment.