Morris heads new education remit

Ms Morris, a former teacher in Coventry, takes over from David Blunkett, who has been made home secretary in the newly formed Cabinet. From May 1997 she was school standards minister at the DfEE, and she was promoted to minister of state in July 1998. During this time she helped deliver improvements in primary school standards and introduced performance-related pay for classroom teachers. She also took the decision to intervene in the running of local education authorities where they failed to deliver a high quality service for schools, and created City Academies and Specialist Schools.

The prime minister's official spokesman said, 'Estelle Morris was someone who as schools standards minister had made a very real difference in terms of improving standards of literacy and numeracy in our primary schools. She not only engaged with the professions but also won their genuine respect.' Labour's second consecutive term in office was welcomed by early years organisations. Rosemary Murphy, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, said, 'Labour has made enormous strides in the fields of childcare and early years education. We are pleased that they will be returning for a second term to ensure that progress will continue.' Professional Association of Nursery Nurses professional officer Tricia Pritchard added, 'We have given credit where it's due. An awful lot of initiatives have been introduced by this Government, especially in early years.