David Lammy, UK Minister of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills. (November 21, 2008)

This past October David Lammy (36) was appointed Minister of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (under Secretary of State John Denham).

David Lammy (r) and friend in 2005

Recently he told The Guardian's Polly Curtis:

At the time I was growing up, it [Tottenham] was one of the toughest inner-city areas in the country. It was absolutely not the case that it was probable or likely for me to go on to higher education. If anyone had suggested I would be the minister for higher education, well, laughter is probably a very gentle way of putting it. It would have been so out of the ballpark of what was possible... I was really, really happy when the prime minister asked me to do this job. It [higher education] is essentially what enables me to be a minister in the government, coming from the kind of background I'm coming from.

Mr Lammy studied law at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, then took a Masters degree at Harvard Law School and is a member of Lincoln's Inn.

And his views on the place of higher education in the scheme of things?

I think that the liberal arts tradition in our country is second to none. It's the reason we've produced some of the best novels, arts, entertainment of the 20^th century and it's going to be a hugely important part of a civilised and modern democracy.

...let's be clear about where we are today, in 2008; if you look at the economic downturn, thank God there are a few people out there who have studied economic history and know about Keynes. Without those courses, I think we'd be in trouble. History can serve us at critical moments and we've just seen critical, critical moments indeed.

And Ms Curtis reports that Mr Lammy has already convened groups of vice-chancellors in order to galvanise universities into the role they will be expected to take in retraining people for new jobs as the labour market shifts. The minister is passionate about increasing the flexibility of the university sector:

I think I want to emphasise that widening participation is not just about universities, and fair access at our most selective universities; it's not just about outreach work of the universities.

It's about schools' readiness to prepare young people to aspire to selective universities, to be in contact with those universities; it's about headteachers with expectations, local authorities with expectations - a real effort from both sides to make this happen.

The other dimension, of course, is travelling to a different university, going to a different town - a different environment is a wonderful opportunity and a great thing. It's why most of my friends are northerners, because they came down to London. That's really important and I want that to be opened up to young people.

However, Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students sounded a quiet note of caution in telling Ms Curtis: I think, as someone who comes from the working class and has experienced different types of education, David Lammy is well prepared. But the real test is the 2009 review and whether someone with leftwing credentials, close to Compass and the Labour party, will challenge the marketisation of our higher education system. On paper, he's ideal. In practice, we have high expectations and he needs to deliver.