Humphrey Appleby and the LSE

I was watching yes minister the other day and heard appleby berate the LSE for its lack of commitment to education, effectively frowning upon it as an institute of learning. Is it an accurate portrayal of the LSE?

Reply 1

bkcr20

He was just saying that because most of the civil service + PMs in that series went to Oxbridge.

Reply 2

River85

It's a comedy. Don't take it seriously.

The joke was that the civil service was dominated by Oxbridge and, to a lesser extent, Durham.

Reply 3

xxxchrisxxx

River85

It's a comedy. Don't take it seriously.

The joke was that the civil service was dominated by Oxbridge and, to a lesser extent, Durham.

Does Durham "dominate" the civil service any more than say Bristol or Warwick?

Reply 4

Fortification

Jim Hacker (the Prime Minister) went to LSE hence Humphrey's taunt. It's a joke.

Reply 5

River85

xxxchrisxxx

Does Durham "dominate" the civil service any more than say Bristol or Warwick?

Not now no (besides, the civil service is opening up) it did traditionally, however which was my point. Warwick didn't even exist until the 60s (remember Yes Minister is from the 70s) and Bristol, although a top uni, was a Victorian redbrick and was arguably not really aimed at that purpose.

At the time there was a bit of the old boys network type thing present in Durham, along with the Scottish ancients, more than others. I'd possibly add UCL.