At the weekend Alan Milburn wrote an article in the Sunday Times explaining why he was going to work for Gordon Brown chairing a commission to investigate what more can be done to open up the professions to a wider variety of entrants (ie not just those who have been to public school or have well-connected parents). It's going to be called the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions and this afternoon the Cabinet Office named its members.
I'm not sure whether they're all brilliant examples of self-made individuals who have overcome great hardship to make it to the top. The list includes the ITV chief executive Michael Grade, who was born into a showbusiness family and who, according to his Wikipedia entry, got his first job in journalism through his father. But it is certainly a high-powered collection of establishment names. Here's the full list:
Academia - Professor Madeleine Atkins, vice-chancellor, Coventry University
Armed forces - Major General David McDowall MBE
Arts - Jude Kelly, artistic director, Southbank Centre
Architecture - Sunand Prasad, president, Royal Institute of British Architects
Civil service - Gill Rider, director general, Civil Service Capability Group
Expert - Trevor Phillips OBE, head of Commission for Equalities and Human Rights
Expert - Geoffrey Vos QC, chairman of the Social Mobility Foundation
Finance - Azeem Ibrahim, founder of the European Commerce and Mercantile Bank
Journalism - Elinor Goodman, freelance journalist and former political editor of Channel 4 News
Law - Lord David Neuberger PC QC
Local government - Katherine Kerswell, chief executive, Northampton county council
Management consultancy - Neil Sherlock, KPMG
Media - Michael Grade CBE, executive chairman, ITV
Medicine - Professor Sir John Tooke, dean, Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry
Police - Sara Thornton, chief constable, Thames Valley police
Politics - Lady (Gillian) Shephard, Conservative peer
Publishing - Gail Rebuck, chair and chief executive, Random House
Science - Lord (Martin) Rees, astronomer royal
Unions - Francis O'Grady, deputy general secretary, TUC
The panel is meant to come up with ideas by the summer. "I hope the panel – alongside this week's government white paper on social mobility – will help to open up Britain so that no matter what their background, everyone can make the most of their potential," Milburn says.
