Oxbridge blues, and reds

Tony Blair did, and William Hague. So did John Prescott, Geoff Hoon, Ann Widdecombe and Michael Portillo.

But Jack Straw, Robin Cook and Margaret Beckett didn't. Nor did Mo Mowlam or David Blunkett.

Incidentally, the question under consideration is which of today's top politicians went to Oxbridge?

The comments of Chancellor Gordon Brown over Laura Spence, the Tyneside teenager turned down by Oxford University, have blown open the age-old argument over Oxbridge.

Here's to redbricks - three cabinet ministers who never went to Oxbridge

For centuries the "dreaming spires" of Oxford and the "backs" of Cambridge have been proving grounds for some of Britain's most ambitious citizens.

Nowhere has this been more true than in politics. Former prime minister John Major is one of only a handful of leaders of the country not to have attended Oxford or Cambridge.

But glance at the educational background of the current cabinet and shadow cabinet, and Mr Major's vision of a classless society begins to cloud.

A third of Tony Blair's 22-member cabinet (36%) have been educated at Oxford or Cambridge. Significantly though, many of those who occupy the top jobs, including Robin Cook, Gordon Brown and Jack Straw, received their education elsewhere. (John Prescott attended Ruskin College, an independent college based in Oxford for mature students.)

William Hague's shadow cabinet is dominated by graduates of these two distinguished seats of learning. Sixty-four percent of the 22-member team are Oxbridge alumni, including all those in the leading posts.

Oxbridge cabinet ministers:

Prime Minister, Tony Blair - Oxford

Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine of Lairg - Cambridge

Defence Secretary, Geoffrey Hoon - Cambridge

Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Chris Smith - Cambridge

Northern Ireland Secretary, Peter Mandelson - Oxford

Leader of the Lords, Baroness Jay of Paddington - Oxford

Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Smith - Oxford

Secretary of State for Wales, Paul Murphy - Oxford

Oxbridge shadow cabinet ministers:

Leader of the Opposition, William Hague - Oxford

Conservative Party Chairman, Michael Ancram - Oxford

Shadow Chancellor, Michael Portillo - Cambridge

Shadow Chief Secretary, David Heathcoat-Amory - Oxford

Shadow Foreign Secretary, Francis Maude - Cambridge

Shadow Home Secretary, Ann Widdecombe - Oxford

Shadow Education and Employment Secretary, Theresa May - Oxford

Shadow Leader of the House, Sir George Young - Oxford

Shadow minister Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Tim Yeo - Cambridge

Shadow Secretary of State, Archie Norman - Cambridge

Shadow Minister for Transport, Bernard Jenkin - Cambridge

Chief Whip (Commons), James Arbuthnot - Cambridge

Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Peter Ainsworth - Oxford

Shadow Social Security Secretary, David Willetts - Oxford