It’s been a tough old time for Etonians. Having seemingly ruled the Tory party (and the country) for much of the past 15 years, the election of Rishi Sunak, a Wykehamist and proud school donor, put all that to an end. With Kwasi Kwarteng banished to the backbenches, Sunak’s cabinet became an OE-free zone: a watershed moment in Tory history.
In their place though came the Wykehamists, with Sunak last month appointing fellow old boys Alex Chalk and John Whittingdale as Lord Chancellor and culture minister respectively. Poor old unloved Marcus Fysh must be expecting a call-up any day now. To add insult to injury, Sunak, as Prime Minister, has have technical sign-off power on Crown appointments including the Provostship of Eton which is due to become vacant next year when Lord Waldegrave retires. A Wykehamist picking the Provost? What would Macmillan say?
But it seems the good people in Berkshire have not taken all these slights too well. For the royal borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has today voted Liberal Democrat on a massive swing: including taking the onetime staunch Tory stronghold of the Windsor Castle and Eton ward. The King and the next generation of the ruling class will now have a hattrick of Lib Dem councillors supervising their bin collections: the horror! Think of all those tofu-eating types with their sandals and slogans, bestriding the municipal corridors of power.
Talk about an Eton mess…
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