Tories give Tristram Hunt grief over ‘car crash’ interview

It was quite strange yesterday that Michael Gove’s allies were quite so happy to concede ahead of his first proper scrap with Tristram Hunt that it was going to be a tough fight. They’d never given Stephen Twigg quite so much credit, although the complications of the Al-Madinah free school row and Nick Clegg’s wibbling and wobbling over qualified teachers have made life a little more difficult for team Gove.

But the strategy was partly to add to the expectations on the new Shadow Education Secretary, and then to bring them crashing down when he actually appeared. This was of course rather high-risk given Hunt is a pretty impressive performer, but a rather bruising interview with Jeremy Paxman last night which spinners are now trying to describe as a ‘car-crash’ encounter was pretty helpful for the ‘crashing disappointment’ narrative. Crash or not, Paxman did highlight the inconsistencies in Hunt’s policy on teaching qualifications, and Hunt did not defend the policy at all well.