OUR PATRONS
Baroness Natalie Bennett
Baroness Natalie Bennett of Manor Castle has a distinguished career as a journalist and political leader, including serving as Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales and now a member of the House of Lords. She champions inclusive schooling, social justice and equality of opportunity.
John Bercow
John Bercow is the former Speaker of the House of Commons. MP for Buckingham 1997 – 2019, John has first-hand experience of the many problems of the 11-plus and its impact on overall educational attainment. He recently wrote a piece for the Guardian about his change of mind on selection.
Baroness Blower
Christine Blower, Baroness Blower of Starch Green, is a Labour peer and a former General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers.
Professor Roger Brown
Professor Emeritus of Higher Education Policy and former Vice Chancellor of Southampton Solent University.
Demitri Coryton
Demitri Coryton is editor of Education Journal and chairman of the Education Publishing Company Ltd. A former editor of Education and Education Parliamentary Monitor, he was nominated for the Ted Wragg Award for Sustained Contribution to Education Journalism in 2007.
Danny Dorling
Danny Dorling is the Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford. A leading academic on issues of social justice and inequality, his latest book is ’Finntopia: what we can learn from the world’s happiest country.’
Philip Hunt, Baron Hunt of Kings Heath
Philip Hunt is a Labour peer. He lives in an area of Birmingham with grammar schools and is an outspoken critic of selective education.
Lord Kinnock
Neil Kinnock joined the House of Lords in 2005, after being created Baron Kinnock. He was the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1983 until 1992.
Caroline Lucas MP
Caroline Lucas was MP for Brighton Pavilion 2010-2024 and is former leader and co-leader of the Green Party.
Professor Peter Mandler FBA
Professor Peter Mandler is Professor of Modern Cultural History at the University of Cambridge with research spanning educational history, social mobility and the humanities. His work examines how Britain’s education system has evolved — and how it can reform for greater fairness. As a patron of Comprehensive Future, he brings scholarly rigor and historical insight to our mission to end the 11-plus.
Professor Jane Martin
Jane Martin is Professor of the Social History of Education at Birmingham University. She has just published ‘Gender and Education in England 1770 to the present day: a social and cultural history’. Jane is currently working on a biography of Caroline Benn, education campaigner and author, and a leading figure in the comprehensive education movement during the transformative years of the 1960s and 1970s.
Sir David Melville CBE
David Melville is Chair of Pearson Education Ltd. He was previously a Professor of Physics, Vice-Chancellor of Middlesex University and the University of Kent, and Chief Executive of the Further Education Funding Council for England.
Fiona Millar
Fiona Millar is a writer and journalist specialising in education and parenting issues. Fiona was Chair of Comprehensive Future from 2009 to 2013. We are delighted to welcome her back as a patron. Fiona’s book ‘The Best for My Child. Did the schools market deliver?’ was published in 2018.
Michael Rosen
Michael Rosen is a novelist and poet, and the author of 140 books. He served as Children’s Laureate from 2007 to 2009. As a political columnist he regularly writes on education issues.
Lord Mike Watson of Invergowrie
Lord Mike Watson of Invergowrie brings decades of experience in education and public service to Comprehensive Future. A long-serving Member of the House of Lords, he has held key roles in education policy and formerly served as Labour’s Education Spokesperson in the Lords. His commitment to lifelong learning and fair access to opportunity makes him a passionate advocate for ending selection at age 11.