Theresa May’s purge of the posh

It’s not a great day to be an ambitious Tory who attended a private school — let alone Eton. After Theresa May promised to work to build a society with a focus on helping the working class rather than the rich, she has started by implementing this approach in her Cabinet.

George Osborne, Nicky Morgan, Theresa Villiers and Oliver Letwin are among the privately-educated politicians to face the axe today. Meanwhile, the majority of the high profile briefs have gone to state school educated politicians. Alongside May, the Chancellor — Philip Hammond — and the Justice Secretary — Liz Truss  — attended a state school. Meanwhile Justine Greening has made history by becoming the first ever Education Secretary to attend a comprehensive.

All of which is beginning to make Boris Johnson — now Foreign Secretary — look like the odd one out. As the only Old Etonian left in the Cabinet, BoJo is about to find out what it’s like to be the minority.