The UK’s next prime minister must urgently address the “deep freeze” of university tuition fees and the loss of international scientific partnerships when they enter Downing Street, a former Tory higher education minister has warned.
While science and universities have featured fleetingly in the run-off to succeed Boris Johnson - now narrowed down to a choice for Tory members between foreign secretary Liz Truss and former chancellor Rishi Sunak - the country’s new leader will need to confront several long-standing challenges in these sectors as soon as they are elected in early September, said Lord Johnson of Marylebone, a universities minister under three prime ministers between 2015 and 2019.
