The education secretary, Nicky Morgan, is to battle for her nominee to be the next head of Ofsted despite the parliamentary committee questioning the leadership style and passion of her preferred candidate, Amanda Spielman.
Morgan’s decision to press ahead after the education select committee said it would not back Amanda Spielman as the next chief inspector of schools in England, was bolstered by an outpouring of support for Spielman on education blogs and social media.
The education committee, which is dominated by Conservative MPs, surprised many when it criticised Spielman for lacking leadership experience, despite her high profile roles as a founder of the Ark academy chain and chair of the exams watchdog Ofqual.
Morgan responded with a letter to the committee, arguing that it had misunderstood the job specifications for the role of Her Majesty’s chief inspector (HMCI). “I am concerned that the committee appears to have been looking for a narrow and stereotypical representation of leadership, vision and motivation.
“In recruiting the next HMCI, I am not seeking what one committee member described as a ‘crusader’ during the hearing,” Morgan wrote, an apparent reference to the high profile role adopted by the current chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw.
A Whitehall source said: “As seen by the public reception to the letter Nicky sent, she was absolutely right to call out the education select committee’s outdated and sexist definition of leadership.”
Anne Longfield, the children’s commissioner for England, publicly backed the appointment in a letter to Morgan: “Amanda has an impressive breadth of experience across the education sector and proven commitment to raising standards for children and young people.”
A number of high-profile educationalists and bloggers signed a joint letter in support of Spielman, praising her leadership abilities, including David Laws, the former Lib Dem schools minister, Toby Young, the confidante of Michael Gove who founded one of the first free schools, and Tom Bennett, a teacher who founded the ResearchEd teacher network.
Jonathan Simons, head of education at the Policy Exchange thinktank, said the education committee had failed to make a strong case against Spielman. “Legislative scrutiny of executive appointments can be really valuable when it probes specific issues with candidates or tests assumptions made by government.
“Unfortunately in this case, the committee seemed to combine personal and old fashioned views on leadership styles with a lack of awareness of the job specifications which they had previously agreed,” he said.
I am really pleased that the Secretary of State is confirming my nomination as HMCI today - thank you to everyone who has expressed support
— Amanda Spielman (@amanda_spielman) July 7, 2016
Spielman has not made any public comment other than a tweet which read: “I am really pleased that the secretary of state is confirming my nomination as HMCI today – thank you to everyone who has expressed support.”
