'How to Become British Prime Minister' Simon Kuper

On the day a new UK Prime Minister is announced Andy Lopata talks to Simon Kuper, Financial Times columnist and author of 'Chums: How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK'. A contemporary of Boris Johnson, David Cameron, Michael Gove and others at Oxford in the 1980s, Simon explains the culture that existed especially in the Oxford Union. 12 of the 16 post war PMs (including today's winning candidate) were Oxford graduates. The Union Debating Society in the 80s was dominated by Tories and was a nursery for the House of Commons. The Eton and other private school students at Oxford learnt to speak well and write well, without being too concerned about the facts and details. In Union debates they were trained in the art of winning elections and the rhetoric of undermining an opponent by putting on a show to entertain rather than addressing the question. Boris Johnson was a parody of this scenario and has used this basic debating style to great effect. A few talented outsiders were allowed into Oxford including Truss, Starmer and Gove, the latter referred to as a 'stooger' or 'staff'. Andy and Simon discuss challenging this thinking both in Parliament and in the Establishment. They look at the changes at Oxbridge to make our ruling elite more diverse, more open to talent. At the moment Oxford has pretty much a stranglehold on the top of political life, Oxford and Cambridge more broadly over the whole establishment.