OXFORD PRIME MINISTERS

There have been 54 Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and its predecessors since Sir Robert Walpole invented the job in the early eighteenth century. Ten of them did not go to university, one (Neville Chamberlain) went to Birmingham and two (Lord Russell and Gordon Brown) went to Edinburgh. Of the other 41, 14 went to Cambridge and an eye-opening 27 to Oxford, including the current incumbent David Cameron. As an educational establishment, Oxford University dominates national politics like none other in the world.

Some of this is historical; Oxford and Cambridge were founded in the early middle ages, whereas many other universities only got going in the nineteenth centuries. Aristocrats also had special privileges, which allowed them to send their children to Oxford, even if they were as thick as a plank. However, the historical angle only goes so far, and doesn't explain the two to one lead over Cambridge. Moreover, some of the greatest holders of the office were Oxford men, at a time when there were educational alternatives; Sir Robert Peel, William Gladstone, the Marquess of Salisbury, Clement Attlee. And since the second world war, of the 13 Prime Ministers, only Winston Churchill, James Callaghan, John Major and Gordon Brown did not go to Oxford.

(Note that I used the word "men" deliberately. The only woman to hold the office, Margaret Thatcher, also went to Oxford. But unlike some, I don't consider her to have been a great Prime Minister!)

There is in fact another connection between academia and Number 10, Downing Street. 19 Prime Ministers - more than one third of the total - have been to just one school, Eton College. Founded by King Henry VI in 1440, it lies on the other side of the river Thames from Windsor Castle, and is the school which Princes William and Harry attended (as did David Cameron). 13 of those future Prime Ministers went on to Oxford, and many other Cabinet Ministers throughout history have started their education at Eton.

I have a good friend who holds a senior post at the school, so I have visited it a number of times. Whatever you may think of the concept of elite, private education, Eton undoubtedly has fantastic resources and facilities. It is, therefore, not surprising that so many of its alumni have gone on to run the country. After all, that's pretty much what they are all trained to do.

Walter Blotscher