Next Friday, Boris Johnson will officially open the West London Free School. I’m particularly pleased that the ribbon is being cut by a former editor of this magazine.
Next Friday, Boris Johnson will officially open the West London Free School. I’m particularly pleased that the ribbon is being cut by a former editor of this magazine. Not only is The Spectator my longest-standing employer and my spiritual home — I’ve been a columnist for 13 years — but many of the ideas that have informed the set-up of the school were first rehearsed in these pages. It’s also appropriate in another respect, because it was encountering Boris at Oxford that first made me aware of the huge gulf between the private and state education sector.
When I first arrived at the university from a north London grammar school in 1983, I considered myself quite advanced. Not only had I seen something of the world, having travelled in the Middle East, I had started a school magazine. I had even appeared as an extra in the film version of Another Country. I thought I’d have no problem scaling the dreaming spires.
Then I met Boris. I first set eyes on him at a freshers’ debate at the Oxford Union and, to all intents and purposes, he was the man you see today. It was if he had already mastered the art of public speaking several years earlier and gone a step beyond, adding a layer of befuddlement in order not to appear too polished. He seemed at least 25 years older than me — a fully formed personality, comfortable in his own skin. Watching his total command of the audience, I realised I’d never be able to compete.
It wasn’t just Boris. Two years later, David Cameron arrived and I was immediately struck by his bottomless well of self-confidence.
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