Ex-education secretary Gavin Williamson takes up second job as chair of private education firm
Former UK education secretary Gavin Williamson has taken a second job as an advisor to a private education company that previously donated £165,000 to the Tory party.
The MP, who stepped down from his position as education secretary last year, will chair the advisory board of education company RTC Education Ltd after taking up a second job with the firm.
In his new role, Williamson will work alongside two prominent Tory party donors who now fill top positions within the private education firm, including Anglo-Italian businessman Maurizio Baragni and ex-Fujitsu chairman Simon Blagden.
The appointment comes after RTC Education chief executive Maurizio Bragagni faced accusations of stoking Islamophobia regarding comments written by the businessman on an Italian news site.
Writing in Italian outlet Saturno Notizie, the industrialist, who gave £650,000 to the conservative party, said London had become “worse than any African metropolis” as he claimed “foreign Muslims” had made Sharia law the “de facto law” in certain English cities and towns.
Blagden has also faced scrutiny, after he, and companies associated with him, gave £376,000 to the Conversative Party. Under Blagden’s leadership, Fujitsu UK sued the NHS for £700m.
On its website, RTC Education describes itself as an education and real estate management company that owns manages independent schools, higher education colleges, and an investment business.