Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis

The Right Honourable The Lord Adonis PC
Secretary of State for Transport
In office 5 June 2009 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Geoff Hoon
Succeeded by	Philip Hammond
Minister of State for Transport
In office 3 October 2008 – 5 June 2009
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Rosie Winterton
Succeeded by	Sadiq Khan
Personal details
Born	(1963-02-22) 22 February 1963 (age 49)
Political party	Labour (1995–present)
Other political affiliations	Liberal Democrats (Before 1995)
Alma mater	Keble College, Oxford Christ Church, Oxford
Profession	Journalist
Website	www.andrewadonis.com

Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis PC (2009) (born Andreas Adonis, 22 February 1963)^[1] is a British academic, educationalist, journalist and Labour Life Peer, who served in HM Government as Secretary of State for Transport between 2009 to 2010.^[2]

Adonis was first appointed to the Labour Government following the 2005 general election, as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

He previously served, under the premiership of Tony Blair, as an education and constitution policy advisor at the Number 10 Policy Unit from 1998 to 2005, heading it from 2001 to 2003.^[1][3] Before joining the Government, Adonis was an academic at the University of Oxford, then a journalist at the Financial Times and The Observer.^[1][3][4]

Adonis is author or co-author of several books, including on studies of the English class system; the rise and fall of the Community Charge ("Poll Tax"); and the Victorian House of Lords, and has co-edited a collection of essays on Roy Jenkins. He was educated at Kingham Hill School and at Keble and Nuffield Colleges, Oxford.

Early life

Adonis is the son of an immigrant Greek Cypriot father Nicos, a commis waiter, and an English mother.^[5] His mother left the family when he was three and has had no communication with him since.^[5] Shortly thereafter, he was placed in care and lived in a council children's home until the age of 11,^[6] when Adonis was awarded a local education authority grant to attend Kingham Hill School, a boarding school in Oxfordshire.^[7]

After Kingham Hill School, Adonis went to Keble College, Oxford,^[8] graduating with a First-class BA in Modern History. At Christ Church he subsequently completed a DPhil on the British aristocracy of the late 19th century^[7] before being appointed to a Fellowship (in History and Politics) at Nuffield College.^[1]

From 1991 to 1996 he was an education and industry correspondent, and finally public policy editor at the Financial Times.^[1] In 1996, he moved to The Observer to work as a political columnist, leader writer and editor.^[1]

Political background

From 1987 until 1991 Adonis was an Oxford City Councillor for the SDP/Liberal Democrats, representing the North Ward.^[1]

In 1994, he was selected by Westbury Constituency Liberal Democrats as their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, but resigned after about 18 months, without having fought an election.^{[citation needed]} The next year, he joined the Labour Party.^[9] During the mid to late 1990s, he was politically active in Islington North, the constituency represented by the MP Jeremy Corbyn; he was selected to contest St George's Ward, Islington London Borough Council for Labour in 1998, but withdrew from the process when the education and constitution policy advisor post previously referred to was offered.

On 16 May 2005 he was created a Life Peer as Baron Adonis, of Camden Town in the London Borough of Camden,^[10] elevation to membership of the House of Lords making possible his appointment as a Government Minister without ever being elected to Parliament.^[11]

Ministerial career

Following his appointment to the House of Lords, Adonis became a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools and Learners in the Department for Education and Skills (later the Department for Children, Schools and Families). From 2000 until 2008 - in No. 10 and as Minister for Schools - he was both the architect and the driving force behind the academies programme, which replaced failing and underperforming comprehensive schools with all-ability, independently managed academies, run on a not-for profit basis. By the time he left the Department in October 2008, 133 academies were open and 300 more in the pipeline. Independent studies by the National Audit Office.^[12] and the London School of Economics ^[13] attest to the success of academies in raising educational standards.^[14] Adonis also encouraged state schools to adopt practices of the private sector and generally believed in giving individual schools more independence and autonomy from central government and the Local Education Authorities. His criticism of underperforming comprehensives made him unpopular with some Trade Union members and some on the Labour Party's left-wing. Adonis was popular with some Opposition politicians, in particular the Conservative (then) Education Spokesman, Michael Gove MP, who declared "We are on the same page as Andrew Adonis".^[15]

In October 2008, Adonis was reshuffled to the Department for Transport holding a Minister of State position. In May 2009 while reviewing potential cycle "super highways" with Kulveer Ranger and Boris Johnson the group had a 'near-death' experience when a passing lorry's back door 'suddenly flew open, dragged a parked car into the street and smashed into another – just feet from the group'.^[16] He was promoted to Secretary of State for Transport in June 2009, serving until 11 May and the resignation of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister. As Transport Secretary, he pioneered the plan for HS2, the proposed high-speed railway line from London to Birmingham and the north of England. The plan was published shortly before the 2010 election ^[17], and has since been adopted and taken forward, largely unchanged, by the coalition government. He also planned and announced the electrification of the Great Western Main Line from London Paddington to Bristol, Cardiff and Swansea, and electrification of lines in the north-west from Manchester to Liverpool and Manchester to Preston. This electrification programme (except for the Cardiff to Swansea section of the Great Western) is being taken forward by the coalition government.

James Macintyre, political editor of Prospect (magazine), argues that following 12 years at the heart of government Adonis emerged as Labour's most innovative public service reformer and is even tipped by some for a return to top-level politics in due course with a frontbench seat in Parliament.^[18]

Lord Adonis was involved in the 2010 post-election negotiations which led to the formation of the Coalition Government since no single party achieved an outright majority. He was reputed to prefer a Lib-Lab deal^[19] given his Liberal political background.

After a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government was formed, he served as Shadow Transport Secretary^[20] for only a few days before retiring from frontline politics, and was succeeded in that role by Sadiq Khan MP.^[21][22] Adonis returned to frontline politics in 2012, becoming industrial strategy adviser working with Chuka Umunna, as part of Ed Miliband's shadow cabinet reshuffle.

Post-ministerial career

In July 2010, Lord Adonis became Director of the Institute for Government (IfG)^[23], an independent charity with cross-party and Whitehall governance working to improve government effectiveness. Adonis left the Institute for Government (IfG) in January 2012 when he became chair of the Labour party organisation Progress.^{[24] [25]} President of the Independent Academies Association (IAA)^[26], Lord Adonis, in 2012, also became a Liveryman Honoris Causa of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the major charitable promoters of academies. He is a Trustee of Teach First^[27], the charity which recruits top graduates to teach in state schools, whose foundation he strongly encouraged when in government. He is also a trustee of the vocational education charity Edge^[28], and a governor of the Baker-Dearing Trust, which supports the establishment of University Technical Colleges, technical schools for 14 to 18 year-olds, the first of which (the JCB Academy near Derby) was a highly innovative part of the original academies programme. His book on education reform - 'Education, Education, Education' - is to be published by Biteback in September 2012^[29]. In 2012, he was tasked with co-ordinating Labour's industrial strategy as part of the policy review where he works closely with Chuka Ummuna and Jon Cruddas.

Personal life

Adonis is married to Kathryn Davies,^[1] once a student of his,^[5] with whom he has two young children named Edmund and Alice.^[7] The family lives in Islington, North London.^[5]

Selected publications

Books

• Andrew Adonis (Editor), Keith Thomas (Editor) (2004). Roy Jenkins: A Retrospective. 
• Andrew Adonis, Stephen Pollard (1997). A Class Act: Myth of Britain's Classless Society. 
• David Butler, Andrew Adonis & Tony Travers (1994). Failure in British government : the politics of the poll tax. 
• Andrew Adonis (1993). Making Aristocracy Work: The Peerage and the Political System in Britain,. 
• Andrew Adonis (Editor), Andrew Tyrie (Editor) (1989). Subsidiarity: no panacea. 
• Anthony Seldon (2004). Blair: no panacea. 
• Andrew Adonis (Editor), Tim Hames (Editor) (1994). The Thatcher-Reagan Decade in Perspective. 

Various New Statesman articles

• Ben Pimlott The Queen: A Biography of Elizabeth II – book review, 1996, Andrew Adonis
• Our progressives only look dead (prospects for a revival of progressivism in the United Kingdom), 1996, Andrew Adonis
• Christopher Booker and Richard North The Castle of Lies: Why Britain Must Get Out of Europe – book review, 1996, Andrew Adonis
• Anthony Barnett This Time: Our Constitutional Revolution – book review, 1996, Andrew Adonis
• Shirley Williams Climbing the Bookshelves: the Autobiography – book review, 2009, Andrew Adonis
• Roy Hattersley David Lloyd George: the Great Outsider – book review, 2010, Andrew Adonis
• David Laws 22 Days in May: The Birth of the Lib Dem-Conservative Coalition – book review, 2010, Andrew Adonis
• Chris Bowers Nick Clegg: the Biography – book review, 2011, Andrew Adonis

References

External links

• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• www.thePeerage.com
• www.parliament.uk

v t e Ministers of State for Transport Gavin Strang · John Reid · Helen Liddell · The Lord Macdonald · John Spellar · Kim Howells · Stephen Ladyman · Rosie Winterton · The Lord Adonis · Sadiq Khan · Theresa Villiers

v t e Brown Cabinet Cabinet Members Lord Adonis • Bob Ainsworth • Douglas Alexander • Baroness Ashton • Ed Balls • Hilary Benn • Hazel Blears • Ben Bradshaw • Gordon Brown • Des Browne • Liam Byrne • Andy Burnham • Yvette Cooper • Alistair Darling • John Denham • Peter Hain • Harriet Harman • Geoff Hoon • John Hutton • Alan Johnson • Tessa Jowell • Ruth Kelly • Lord Mandelson • David Miliband • Ed Miliband • Jim Murphy • Paul Murphy • James Purnell • Baroness Royall • Jacqui Smith • Jack Straw • Shaun Woodward Also Attended Meetings Margaret Beckett • Nick Brown • Lord Drayson • Caroline Flint • Lord Grocott • John Healey • Jim Knight • Lord Malloch-Brown • Pat McFadden • Tony McNulty • Baroness Scotland Attended While on Agenda Beverley Hughes • Sadiq Khan • Dawn Primarolo • Rosie Winterton