A growing crescendo of attacks on universities from Conservatives, led by the prime minister, might not resonate with voters given support for degrees, according to new polling, while there are also suggestions that the tactic might be of “near-zero interest” to the public.
Rishi Sunak devoted a chunk of his speech at the recent Conservative Party conference – one of his best opportunities to communicate with the public ahead of a general election in 2024 – to calling the last Labour government’s policy of support for higher education expansion in England “one of the great mistakes of the last 30 years”, leading to “thousands of young people being ripped off”, as the science secretary and the education secretary also took aim at universities.
Mr Sunak did not mention the government’s “science superpower” aspirations for the UK. But he twice used a “no more rip-off degrees” line – referring to a previously announced plan to restrict student entry on courses falling below quality thresholds – and sought to play his government’s support for apprenticeships against university education, despite government backing for degree apprenticeships provided by universities.
Since the Brexit vote of 2016, the Conservative Party has shifted its focus towards Brexit-backing non-graduate voters, leading ministers and MPs to become increasingly critical of universities on both economic and cultural grounds. A prime minister’s speech arguing that one of the nation’s biggest problems is that too many people are in higher education confirms that the Conservatives are now mainlining that position.
