New Prime Minister Liz Truss has been urged to return to Leeds and see the local school system for herself, after she repeatedly slammed it during her leadership campaign.
Ms Truss defeated fellow candidate Rishi Sunak on Monday to become Conservative Party leader and enter Downing Street. But her remarks about her education at Roundhay High School in Leeds in the late 1980s and early 1990s have caused a stir, with the PM claiming last week the city council prioritised “political correctness” over “teaching English and maths”.
She’s also suggested “disadvantaged” pupils at the school were let down by poor standards. Critics accused her of misrepresenting the area and the school, which was rated ‘satisfactory’ by Ofsted while she was there.
Asked if Ms Truss comments might make relations between Labour-run Leeds and the government more difficult, the city council’s deputy leader, Jonathan Pryor quipped: “Liz Truss was in school in Leeds in the 80s, I was born right at the end of the 80s, so I was wasn’t around much then!
“But I think it would be great for Liz Truss to come to Leeds to see what a fantastic education system we have here now. We’re rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted for children’s services. I think we’re the only city in the UK to have that ‘outstanding’ rating and to keep the ‘outstanding’ rating. I think it would be great for the new Prime Minister to come and see how well we run things here.”
Ms Truss won just over 81,000 votes from Tory Party members, with Mr Sunak receiving just over 60,000. Councillor Andrew Carter, who leads the city’s Conservative opposition, said Ms Truss was an “election winner” and quoted Boris Johnson’s assessment that she would “wipe the floor with Keir Starmer”.
Cllr Carter said: “I’m quite pleased the result was not a walk for anybody. It sends a good message to both candidates that after six weeks, the party wants to come together, get the country back on its feet and sort out the cost-of-living crisis which is affecting everyone.”
Asked about Ms Truss’ comments about the city council, Cllr Carter said: “Those are her views. That particular school (Roundhay) was a particularly good one and so perhaps it wasn’t the best example.
“But I will remind you it was the Labour government that took education services off Leeds City Council because of the serial failures and political interference of the then Labour administration in Leeds. So there’s an element of what she said that’s absolutely right.”
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