As the Labour party’s education policy officer, I worked closely with Giles Radice (obituary, 2 September) during his time (1983-87) shadowing Keith Joseph as education secretary. Both were cerebral, courteous, had attended Magdalen College, Oxford, and were a tad uncomfortable in the Commons bear pit.
Laid back and intellectual, Giles was often unfairly buffeted by some teacher unions. Yet he did important, ground-breaking policy work on such areas as raising school standards and increasing parental involvement in their children’s schooling. These were built on by his successor, Jack Straw.
