Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis

Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis, originally Andreas Adonis (born 22 February 1963) is a United Kingdom Minister of State in the Department for Education and Skills. He was appointed to the Lords and government following the 2005 general election.

Adonis' previous role in the Number 10 Policy Unit is generally accepted as having driven most of Labour's key education reforms since the 1997 general election - most notably the programme of city academies. He served as advisor on education, public services and constitutional reform from 1998 until his appointment in 2005, and headed the Unit as a whole from 2001 until 2003.

As he was not a Member of Parliament, on appointment as a Minister he was created a life peer baron. On 16 May he was created Baron Adonis, of Camden Town in the London Borough of Camden.

Contents

1 Political influence 2 Early and private life 3 Early political career 4 Political background 5 Ministerhood and peerage 6 His Publications 7 References 8 External links

Political influence

Generally Adonis is said to be an education policy expert. He has influenced most of the Labour Party's key educational policies since the party came to power in the 1997 general electionTemplate:Ref. In 2003, Patrick Butler, Society editor at The Guardian, ranked him after Ken Livingstone, Sir Ian Kennedy, James Strachan, Paul Dacre, Dave Prentis, Ed Balls and Geoff Mulgan as the eigth most influential (not powerful) figure in Britain's public servicesTemplate:Ref.

This may explain why he became, as Michael White at The Guardian puts it, "...a handy hate figure for critics of Tony Blair and the New Labour project"Template:Ref.

He was the architect of the "Fresh Start" policy, where "failing schools" were closed and reopened with new names and new staff. In 2000, when the experiment began to fail dramatically with the resignation of the three "super-heads" in five days, he resigned from the governing body of the Islington Arts and Media School. The BBC Two programme Head on the Block documented the problems of the school in its first yearTemplate:Ref. His Academies programme has attracted strong criticism from educationalists, parents and Labour politiciansTemplate:Ref.

However, some of those who worked with him in this project were complimentary, describing Adonis as "a supportive and constructive governor". "Andrew had an in-depth knowledge of how policies were going to be applied and where things were going," ... "I had a lot of respect for him." And: "We were trying to create a new school out of a failing school and it was always going to be difficult. Andrew worked very hard."Template:Ref.

In September 2004 Adonis was rumoured in the media to have been heavily involved in the resignation of the then Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Estelle Morris, when they failed to work effectively together.

Early and private life

Adonis was raised on a rundown council estate near King's Cross in LondonTemplate:Ref. He was awarded a local education authority grant to attend the private Kingham Hill School in Oxfordshire near Chipping North. He graduated (BA in modern history) from Keble College, Oxford, subsequently completing a doctorate in 19th century political history at Christ Church, Oxford in 1988, and filled a post as a research fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford between 1988-1991. From 1991-1996 he was a public policy correspondent, industry corespondent and finally a public policy editor all at the Financial TimesTemplate:Ref. In 1996 he was moving to the The Observer. He wrote the official biography of Roy JenkinsTemplate:Ref.

Lord Adonis is son of Nicos Adonis, a retired postman and a former Greek Cypriot waiter, who immigrated in 1960 and Josephine Leadbeater alias Stevens (born 1943), a nurse who left Andrew Adonis as a toddler and who had no communication with him since, because - as she puts it - Nicos Adonis threatened herTemplate:Ref. Andrew was born one month after the wedding and was first named Andreas. His sister, Michelle Adonis, was born about one year after him. Nicos Adonis remarried when Andrew was eight and again some time later having more children. Nowadays he is mainly living in Cyprus, his mother in NorfolkTemplate:Ref.

Adonis has had a passion for steam locomotives. He is married to Kathryn Davies (born 31 January 1968), who was one of his students at Oxford. Lady Adonis is a graduate of Jesus College who worked in public relations and marketing mainly in Germany; she grew up in Tunbridge Wells, but her father has Welsh origins. Lord and Lady Adonis and their two children live in northern London.

Early political career

Adonis only joined the Labour Party in 1995. Whilst in Oxford, he had been an active member of the SDP in his late teens, and consequently the Liberal Democrats after the SDP's merger with the Liberal Party in 1988. From 1987 until 1991, he served as a Liberal Democrat councillor there.

In 1994, Andrew Adonis was selected by Westbury Constituency Liberal Democrats as their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, but resigned after about 18 months, without fighting an electionTemplate:Ref.

It was rumoured that he had toyed with the idea of joining the Conservatives before switching to Labour after Blair's reformsTemplate:Ref.

Political background

As a co-author of the book A Class Act, Adonis calls for strong selection in schools. He is in fact regarded as being responsible for the introduction of top-up fees in EnglandTemplate:Ref. It is said that he is opposed to the elitism of the 'Oxbridge' universities and independent schools, although he is himself sometimes called an elitist since he is allegedly a part and a product of this elitism and Oxbridge insider relationships. It is said that his understanding of education policy is to add to the elitism of money and class roots the elitism of the brainiestTemplate:Ref.

It was well noticed that in 2003 he and his wife planned to send their son to the private Deutsche Schule in Richmond, LondonTemplate:Ref, which seemed inconsistent with his political statements and Labour affiliationsTemplate:Ref. Adonis is known to admire the German school system because of its early selection.

Ministerhood and peerage

The move first to promote Adonis as a Minister of State and then to nominate him as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Education and Skills is said to have followed the recognition that Adonis had played already a major role in the Department's policy outline, even in David Blunkett's days. Because of this the Education Secretary, Ruth Kelly, is described by The Observer as 'less than thrilled' over his elevation at whatever rankTemplate:Ref.

The prospect of Adonis' peerage and ministerhood was described by Roy Hattersley, former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and lifelong advocate of comprehensive schooling, as an example of Tony Blair's "kamikaze attacks on its [the Labour Party's] most cherished values" and that the appointment "wins high marks for [its] arrogant insensitivity"Template:Ref.

Lord Adonis' membership of the House of Lords is seen only as an attempt to overcome the flaw that he has not been electedTemplate:Ref. It is already argued that the Peerage under Tony Blair since 1997 has been used quite strategically in comparison to the former seven years under John MajorTemplate:Ref. Important Cabinet officials have generally only been created life peers upon retirement from the House of Commons. Apparently Adonis's peerage - without naming any relevant merits - has thrown another light on the discussion about the democratic legitimacy of the House of Lords as a parliamentary institution which was challenged by Adonis himself in 1988Template:Ref.

Quotation:

"His detractors refer to him as "more Andrew than Adonis" but his elevation to office could signal a determination within Blair to secure a radical legacy."Template:Ref

His Publications

articles and books listed at amazon.com - to be completed

1. A Class Act: The Myth of Britain's Classless Society, Andrew Adonis
2. Subsidiarity: No panacea, Andrew Adonis
3. A Constitution for Europe: A Comparative Study of Federal Constitutions and Plans for the United States of Europe, Preston King, et al.
4. Failure in British Government: The Politics of the Poll Tax, David Butler, et al.
5. Network Europe and the Information Society, Andrew Adonis, Lord Cockfield
6. Making Aristocracy Work: The Peerage and the Political System in Britain, 1884-1914 from Oxford Historical Monographs, Andrew Adonis
7. Roy Jenkins: A Retrospective, 2004, Andrew Adonis (Editor), Keith Thomas (Editor)
8. Parliament Today (Politics Today Series), Andrew Adonis
9. A Conservative Revolution?: The Thatcher-Reagan Decade in Perspective Andrew Adonis (Editor), Tim Hames (Editor)
10. A Constitution for Europe: A Comparative Study of Federal Constitutions and Plans for the United States of Europe, 1991, Preston King, et al.
11. A Conservative Revolution?: The Thatcher-Reagan Decade in Perspective, Andrew Adonis (Editor), Tim Hames (Editor)

Various New Statesman articles:

1. Diana restated in modern form the Victorian values which preceded and will post-date the universal welfare state 1996, Andrew Adonis
2. The Queen: A Biography of Elizabeth II, 1996, Andrew Adonis
3. Using Europe, Abusing Europeans: Britain and European Integration, 1945-1963 (book review), 1996, Andrew Adonis
4. Our progressives only look dead (prospects for a revival of progressivism in the United Kingdom), 1996, Andrew Adonis
5. The Castle of Lies: Why Britain Must Get Out of Europe, 1996, Andrew Adonis
6. Parliament Under Pressure, 1996, Andrew Adonis
7. The Eurosceptic Reader (book review), 1996, Andrew Adonis
8. Our classless self-delusion: the old hierarchy may have gone but a new one has taken its place, 1996, Andrew Adonis
9. This Time: Our Constitutional Revolution, 1996, Andrew Adonis

References

1. Template:Note The Guardian article on Adonis's lead role in education policy development (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,1480977,00.html)
2. Template:Note The Guardian article on Adonis's ranking in public service (http://society.guardian.co.uk/societyguardian/story/0,,1038546,00.html)
3. Template:Note The Guardian article on Adonis as a "figure of hate" (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,9061,1399488,00.html)
4. Template:Note The Times article on the IMAS problems (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,19809-1607195_1,00.html)
5. Template:Note The Telegraph article on criticism of City Academies (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/05/15/nlab15.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/05/15/ixnewstop.html)
6. Template:Note The Times article containing praise for Adonis in his time as a governor (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,19809-1607195_1,00.html)
7. Template:Note The Guardian article on Adonis's childhood (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,9061,1504923,00.html)
8. Template:Note Article on Adonis's early career (http://www.dodonline.co.uk/engine.asp?lev1=4&lev2=38&menu=81&biog=y&id=2614)
9. Template:Note The Spectator article on Adonis as Jenkins's biographer (http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_200301/ai_n9234188)
10. Template:Note The Times article on Nicos Adonis (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1650852,00.html)
11. Template:Note The Times article on Adonis's parents (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1650852,00.html)
12. Template:Note Historical document containing Adonis's Liberal Democrat PPC-ship (http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/files/upld-journal7pdf?.pdf)
13. Template:Note The Guardian article on rumours of Adonis considering joining the Conservative Party (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,,980001,00.html)
14. Template:Note The Guardian article on Adonis's input to policy input to top-up fees (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,,980001,00.html)
15. Template:Note New Statesman article on Adonis's power in the DfES (http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FQP/is_4508_129/ai_66276483)
16. Template:Note NUS comment on Adonis's plans for his son's education (http://resource.nusonline.co.uk/v1/pdf/3917.pdf)
17. Template:Note The Observer article on Kelly's alleged opposition to Adonis as a minister of any rank (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,1479107,00.html)
18. Template:Note The Guardian article on Hattersley's criticism of Adonis becoming a minister (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/election/comment/0,15803,1479616,00.html)
19. Template:Note The Observer article on Blair's alleged difficulties in populating his Cabinet post-2005 General Election (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,1479107,00.html)
20. Template:Note Pressure group's comment on Blair's use of the Peerage in a strategic manner (http://www.electthelords.org.uk/news/33.html)
21. Template:Note The Guardian article on Blair's use of the Peerage (http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1487093,00.html)
22. Template:Note Source of quotation (http://www.epolitix.com/EN/News/200505/731ecff8-7a96-405c-bb59-6e2601cca98d.htm)

External links

• Picture of Andrew Adonis (http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41130000/jpg/_41130821_xadonis_203.jpg)
• recent picture of Adonis (http://www.dfes.gov.uk/aboutus/whoswho/images/adonis_l.jpg)
• older picture (http://www.karrot.org.uk/graphics/adonis.jpg)
• Guardian profile (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/election/story/0,15803,1479876,00.html)
• BBC profile (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/vote_2005/frontpage/4530847.stm)
• Recent VIDEO House of Lords - search for Adonis. His maiden speech (25 May 2005 minutes 42.10 - 58.50, non verbal comments: 383.30 - 407.10) is now only available at (http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Archive.aspx) Kazaa.