The further education sector needs to keep pushing the new government to recognise its importance to society, former shadow FE minister Gordon Marsden has said
Speaking to Tes after losing his seat in Blackpool South to Conservative rival Scott Benton, Mr Marsden said that he wouldn’t leave FE behind, and would be watching with great interest.
“FE needs to make sure that, whoever is in government, that they hear the FE voice,” he said. “It is a crucial voice. Keep on doing the campaigns that you’ve been doing successfully - well, not successfully in the sense that a lot of it hasn’t come to fruition, but keep on pressing.
“In a world, I’ve said many times, in which further education, higher education and skills are all merging into each other in many aspects, the FE sector needs to be recognised. People of all ages are benefiting from FE. Keep on pressing the point, that technical skills - and life skills and generic skills - will be crucial in the future, and the FE sector, as my colleague Angela Rayner can testify from her own life, can be a big life-changer.”
Mr Marsden had been MP for Blackpool South for more than 20 years. In the early hours of this morning, it was announced that Conservative MP Scott Benton won 49.6 per cent of the vote, while Mr Marsden finished second with 38.3 per cent.
He had two stints as shadow FE minister, first between May 2010 and October 2013, then September 2015 to November 2019.
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On his loss, he simply said “these things happen in politics” and expressed a concern for his former constituents in Blackpool.
“It’s always been a bellweather marginal seat...I am less concerned about the personal point and the consistency point of view, I’m concerned about Blackpool. I only hope that some of the things the government has promised to do will actually happen opposed to being things they put in a manifesto.
“Having said that, I stand by everything we were putting across in the manifesto. I think the policies that we had in FE, including lifelong learning, I want those to have a lasting impact and a lasting benefit,” he said.
During the next few days, Mr Marsden says he plans to sort out his constituency office, and thank all of his supporters.
And then? “Enjoy Christmas and reflect,” he says.
