Liz Truss cabinet has highest proportion of privately trained ministers since John Major

Sutton Trust research shows 68% of senior Prime Ministers attended fee-paying schools, compared to 7% of the population

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Liz Truss' new Conservative cabinet has the highest proportion of privately educated ministers since Sir John Major's leadership team in 1992, according to a new analysis.

Education charity The Sutton Trust found that 68% of the Prime Minister's most senior ministers attended fee-paying schools, compared to 64% in Boris Johnson's first cabinet.

That's more than double Theresa May's first cabinet in 2016 - 30% attended independents - and more than David Cameron's coalition cabinet in 2010, with 62% private school alumni.

The Sutton Trust estimates that the number of ministers who have attended fee-paying schools is almost ten times higher than the general population - which is around 7%.

Liz Truss has been Prime Minister since becoming Prime Minister (

Picture:

POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Ms Truss' cabinet has been hailed for its diversity, with none of the four major posts - prime minister, chancellor, home secretary and foreign secretary - being held for the first time by white men.

But the new study points out that only 19% went to comprehensive schools – Ms. Truss included – while 10% went to high school.

Two cabinet members, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, attended Eton College, a private school that has educated about 20 prime ministers.

The Sutton Trust's founder and chairman, Sir Peter Lampl, said: 'In Liz Truss's new cabinet, 68% went to private schools, nearly 10 times the number of the general population.'< /p>

"Truss continues the academic dynasty at No. 10 dating back to the start of World War II: with the exception of Gordon Brown, every prime minister since 1940 who went to college went to Oxford."