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The trouble with defining politicians by their university degrees | Letters

The Guardian UK Thursday 02 July 2026, 16:54 UTC By Guardian Staff 1 min read
Key Points

Readers respond to an article by Blake Morrison about Andy Burnham’s English literature degree and love of poetryI agree with Blake Morrison about the value of a humanities degree – specifically Andy Burnham’s choice of English literature (At a poet’s memorial, I saw how Andy Burnham could be a different kind of prime minister, 27 June). However, readers may have been misled by his rhetorical comment: “But do you need to have studied science, maths or PPE to become a prime minister? only we...

Readers respond to an article by Blake Morrison about Andy Burnham’s English literature degree and love of poetry

I agree with Blake Morrison about the value of a humanities degree – specifically Andy Burnham’s choice of English literature (At a poet’s memorial, I saw how Andy Burnham could be a different kind of prime minister, 27 June). However, readers may have been misled by his rhetorical comment: “But do you need to have studied science, maths or PPE to become a prime minister? Maybe not.”

If only we had more prime ministers with maths or science degrees. Wikipedia tells me that there has only ever been one with a science degree (Margaret Thatcher, chemistry), and three with maths or maths and classics degrees, and all in the 1800s (maths and classics, Robert Peel 1808 and William Gladstone 1831; maths, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 1850, fourth class). None in the last 170 years.

Continue reading...
Blake Morrison (PERSON) Andy Burnham (PERSON) Andy Burnham’s (PERSON) English (ORG) PPE (ORG) Wikipedia (PERSON) Margaret Thatcher (PERSON) Robert Peel 1808 (PERSON) William Gladstone (PERSON) Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 1850 (PERSON)
Originally published by The Guardian UK Read original →

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