The other interesting thing about Ed Miliband’s personnel ‘lurch to the left’ last week was that he appointed Tristram Hunt to Labour’s shadow education team to replace Karen Buck. If CCHQ was excited about Buck becoming the Labour leader’s PPS, then Tory MPs were just as energised today by Hunt’s presence on the frontbench at departmental question time.
Andrew Rosindell asked a question about the history curriculum. As Michael Gove came to the end of his answer and Rosindell rose to ask his supplementary question, Tory backbencher David Ruffley started to shout ‘come on, Tristram!’ He repeated his heckling, wiggling his hands in a ‘stand-up-for-yourself’ gesture. Hunt, naturally, didn’t respond, and Liz Truss later quipped that it was a shame the House hadn’t heard Hunt’s view on the history curriculum.
Why the fuss? Well, Hunt is a renowned historian, but he’s also on the Blairite wing of the party (as is his boss Stephen Twigg), and Tory MPs think he’ll bring what they cheerily describe as ‘debate’ to the Labour team.
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