Keegan's worst gaffes after schools chief says she's doing a 'f***ing good job'

19 September 2023 , 15:24

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Keegan's worst gaffes after schools chief says she's doing a 'f***ing good job'

Gaffe-prone Education Secretary Gillian Keegan is battling to save her job over the Government's disastrous handling of the dodgy concrete crisis in schools.

Thousands of children faced disruption as they returned to class this term after the Government issued an eleventh hour order to more than 100 schools to close or partially shut buildings over safety fears. Ms Keegan was on holiday in Spain from August 25-31, though she insisted she worked remotely. As the crisis deepened, her frustrations became clear when she delivered a foul mouthed rant about her leadership over crumbling schools.

She was caught moaning that she had done a "f***ing good job" while others “have been sat on their a***s” in a hot mic gaffe. Ms Keegan was then forced to clarify her remarks in a wince-inducing clip as pressure continued to pile on the Government over the failure to remove ageing lightweight concrete from school buildings.

It's not the first time the outspoken education chief has landed herself in hot water since taking over at the Department for Education last year. Here are just some of her gaffes.

Under fire schools chief Gillian Keegan is battling to save her job (Getty Images)

Kids prefer learning in temporary classrooms

Thousands of students will be stuck in temporary classrooms after another 27 schools and colleges were identified as having reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) - taking the total to 174 sites.

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Ms Keegan made a bizarre defence of the Government's botched response, where she claimed children actually prefer learning in temporary buildings. She told MPs: "I have been to a number of these schools and seen children and met children in the Portakabins, and in fact at the first school I went to the children were all petitioning me to stay in the Portakabin because they actually preferred it to the classroom."

As Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson shouted from the Labour frontbench, Ms Keegan insisted: "The Portakabins are very high quality and I would advise her to go and see some of the high quality Portakabins that we have, and that is true." Ms Phillipson blasted the Education Secretary as she warned there could be “years stretching ahead of our children sitting under steel girders”.

Claim she's doing a 'f***ing good job' in hot mic rant

In a memorable TV blunder, Ms Keegan was caught mouthing off at the end of an interview with ITV about the widespread disruption caused by collapse-prone reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in schools. Speaking before the camera and mic were turned off, she said: "Does anyone ever say, you know what, you've done a f***ing good job because everyone else has sat on their a***s and done nothing? No signs of that, no?"

She later apologised for her "choice language" and said it was an "off-the-cuff remark". She also refused to say who she believed was "sat on their a***". Ms Keegan said: "I wasn't really talking about anyone in particular. It was an off-the-cuff remark after the news interview had finished, or apparently after it had finished. I would like to apologise for my choice language, that was unnecessary."

Schools should 'get off their backsides'

A day later, Ms Keegan was accused of trying to deflect blame for the RAAC crisis by telling heads who hadn't completed a Government survey to "get off their backsides". The Education Secretary said 5% of schools and councils have failed to reply to the Government's questions on whether they had RAAC in their buildings.

In an interview with Jeremy Vine on Radio 2, she said: "The annoying bit - and this was probably a bit of my frustration yesterday - is despite asking since March 2020, there's 5% of schools and responsible bodies that have not responded to the survey. Now, hopefully, all this publicity will make them get off their backsides. But what I would like them to do is to respond because I want to be the Secretary of State that knows exactly in every school where there's RAAC and takes action."

Weird video responding to dodgy concrete crisis

As news broke about the crisis engulfing school buildings, Ms Keegan dodged media interviews and instead did a bizarre video answering questions on safety of school buildings. The two and half-minute clip, posted on YouTube, featured a weird dance music soundtrack as the schools chief tried to soother worried parents.

But the decision sparked a backlash. Broadcaster Piers Morgan said: “Where is the education secretary? She’s putting out these Oscars-style videos - sorry, that’s not your job. I don’t want slick videos. I want the education secretary to be held to account.”

Sporting Rolex while telling teachers they can't have a pay rise

The Education Secretary sparked a backlash when she toured the broadcast studios to tell teachers to be "realistic" on pay - while wearing a £10,000 Rolex. The luxury timepiece was identified by watch buff Rory Broomfield on Twitter as a Rolex Lady-Datejust 31 Everose in two-tone gold and steel, with a chocolate diamond dial on a smooth bezel, with a Jubilee bracelet.

Ms Keegan, who was born in Merseyside and left school at 16, brushed off criticism as "inverted snobbery".

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Gillian Keegan and her £10,000 Rolex

Derided for claim £28k teachers are in top 10% of earners

The Education Secretary was branded “staggeringly out of touch” after insisting a £28k salary puts teachers in the “top 10% of earners” in parts of Britain. Last year, she told LBC radio: “My cousin has just started teaching and she is on £28,000. She is 23 and lives in Knowsley. She is single and lives with her mum and dad but the reality is that she is in a good career. It's probably within the top 10% of earners in some parts of the country."

Government figures show someone on a £28,000 salary is in the top 45% of UK taxpayers - people who earn £12,800 or more. The top 10% of taxpayers nationally earned £58,000 or more per year, according to figures from 2019/20.

Private schools cost as much as a holiday

Ms Keegan was ridiculed for arguing that it cost families the same amount to send their kids to private school as to go on holiday. In a botched attack on Labour's plans to strip elite schools of their charitable status, she said: “Most of our private schools aren’t like Eton or Harrow – they’re far smaller and they charge a lot less. Many cost the same as a family holiday abroad and there’s plenty of parents who choose to forego life’s luxuries to give their children these opportunities.”

But Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Philipson pointed out that average private school fees are around £16,000 a year – far higher than the cost of an average holiday. She fumed: “It’s not just Rishi Sunak that hasn’t got a clue. What planet are this lot on?”

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Lizzy Buchan