A press release from Stoke on Trent’s education authority about an exhibition at the Department for Education and Skills by students of St Margaret Ward Catholic high school and arts college informs us that, during their visit to London, students were given a tour of Westminster and “met Patricia Hodge MP (minister for children)”.
Clearly, Charles “Two Pizzas” Clarke has been quietly adding a bit of spice to his ministerial team. The last we heard, Patricia Hodge was a fragrant red-headed actress, noted for her scarily accurate Margaret Thatcher in the BBC drama The Falklands Play and the evil Mrs Coulter in the National Theatre’s adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. And the children’s minister until Patricia’s shock appointment is that scary Margaret Hodge, the former leader of Islington council.
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