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Politics at Cambridge

[QUOTE Posted by DannyBoy123: Quite a few actually (well PPE) e.g. Tony Blair, David Cameron, William Hague, Boris Johnson, George Osborne off the top of my head...
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Well just to be pedantic I think Blair did Law lol; would also explain why him and his wife were/are Lawyers,

Reply 41

Schott

11

Also very evidently have not got the hang of quoting yet!

Reply 42

The West Wing

18

Also Boris Johnson did Classics and William Hague did History.

lol.

Reply 43

DannyBoy123

15

My bad lol...Cameron definitely did though!

Reply 44

parkerpen

DannyBoy123 George Osborne did History. I also don't think a single SPSer is currently in parliament (although thats not hugely suprising given how new the course is). So only one of your list did Politics!

Reply 45

DannyBoy123

15

OK I admit defeat lol, no idea why I thought all of them did PPE but there you go. So basically, you don't need politics to become PM!!! :biggrin:

Reply 46

parkerpen

In fact based on current experience it is probably quite a good thing not to have a degree in.

Reply 47

DannyBoy123

15

Why? David Cameron seems to be making a decent amount of sense at the moment...and Brown hasn't exactly been spectacular; and neither was Blair or Major....

Reply 48

smalltownboy

14

If by sense you mean rabidly insulting the Prime Minister with ad-hominem arguments and whenever offered the opportunity to argue a good point just goes back to something irrelevant.

Back to the topic, I believe many top MP's have PPE degrees. So yeh.

Reply 49

maisie123

4

The West Wing

Also Boris Johnson did Classics and William Hague did History.

lol.

Wikipedia tells me all these people did PPE (incl William Hague)

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Ed Balls, British politician

•

David Cameron, British politician and leader of the Conservative Party

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William Hague, British politician and former leader of the Conservative Party

•

Edward Heath, former British Prime Minister

•

Christopher Hitchens, British author and broadcaster

•

Ruth Kelly, British politician

•

Peter Mandelson, British politician and EU Commissioner

•

David Miliband, British politician

•

Jacqui Smith, British politician

•

Ann Widdecombe, British politician

•

Harold Wilson, former British Prime Minister

Reply 50

DannyBoy123

15

smalltownboy

If by sense you mean rabidly insulting the Prime Minister with ad-hominem arguments and whenever offered the opportunity to argue a good point just goes back to something irrelevant.

Back to the topic, I believe many top MP's have PPE degrees. So yeh.

Rabidly insulting the Prime Minister? Quite apart from the fact that it is the job of the opposition leader to hold the PM to account, Gordon Brown has made, or been in charge of, some monumental cock-up's recently. Please don't try and pretend he couldn't have rescheduled his diary to account for the EU treaty; please don't try and put the blame for Northern Rock on Darling when it is clearly Brown's mis-management of the economy that has led to the crisis, and please don't try and say that Brown didn't play the nation for fools when he decided not to call an election.

Incidentally, I am fairly certain that William Hague did study PPE because my economics teacher claims to have done it at Oxford at the same time as him and he isn't the sort of person to lie about such things.

EDIT: following a search on Google, I am now 100% certain that Hague did indeed study PPE and get a firsts in it. Please feel free to search yourselves to confirm/

Reply 51

coren111

8

DannyBoy123

Quite a few actually (well PPE) e.g. Tony Blair, David Cameron, William Hague, Boris Johnson, George Osborne off the top of my head...

Blair read Law (Jurisprudence) at Oxford
Get your facts right.

ooops already corrected, sorry.

Reply 52

MC REN

14

maisie123

Jacqui Smith, British politician

Jacqui smith became a teacher after she left Oxford then only went into politics afterwards

Not sure why that is exactly relevant, I think it is quite interesting though cause it doesn't seem likely to be a common pathway.

Oh and it is something I know so I wanted to post it :p:

Reply 53

The West Wing

18

Teaching is one of the most common previous professions of Labour MPs. It's like 15% or something who used to be teachers.

Reply 54

Jahmez23

maisie123

Wikipedia tells me all these people did PPE (incl William Hague)

•

Ed Balls, British politician

•

David Cameron, British politician and leader of the Conservative Party

•

William Hague, British politician and former leader of the Conservative Party

•

Edward Heath, former British Prime Minister

•

Christopher Hitchens, British author and broadcaster

•

Ruth Kelly, British politician

•

Peter Mandelson, British politician and EU Commissioner

•

David Miliband, British politician

•

Jacqui Smith, British politician

•

Ann Widdecombe, British politician

•

Harold Wilson, former British Prime Minister

my DoS (SPS) told me (with a hint of regret and disappointment!) that those who want to become politicians go to Oxford and do PPE. Those who do SPS at Cambridge become Guardian columnist and comedians (like Jimmy Carr, who I contend to be our most famous and aspirational SPSer!)

Reply 55

Bumblebee3

8

Jahmez23

my DoS (SPS) told me (with a hint of regret and disappointment!) that those who want to become politicians go to Oxford and do PPE. Those who do SPS at Cambridge become Guardian columnist and comedians (like Jimmy Carr, who I contend to be our most famous and aspirational SPSer!)

This is why I selected Anthropology, despite the fact that I have as much talent for the science side as a sedated monkey. In the third year I took papers in politics, philosophy and economics, along with specialist papers in medical anthropology and the Pacific region. Was perfect for me in the end, but the first year was a challenge! I think it was good for me though. When you force a totally arts orientated brain to study genetics, the rest looks easy. :biggrin:

Reply 56

Jahmez23

The West Wing

Is he the only remotely successful SPSer? :s-smilie:

well, he's the most notable to me, but if you stumble across any others - let me know!

Reply 57

Es*

1

The West Wing

Is he the only remotely successful SPSer? :s-smilie:

That would depend on your definition of success. He's the most famous that I am aware of, but I know two people who did SPS, both of whom I would describe as 'successful'.