Eton’s new Provost admits he judges people for not attending the school that shaped Boris Johnson
Eton has a new Provost, effectively the top administrator, in the form of Sir Nicholas Coleridge – a close associate of the King, with a background in publishing and the Arts.
His Majesty, The King has approved the appointment of Sir Nicholas Coleridge CBE DL as Provost of Eton College to succeed Lord Waldegrave of North Hill. He will take up the post in September 2024 and will be Eton's 43rd Provost. Photo © Peter Kelleher @V_and_A pic.twitter.com/ng4kTo2LNn
— Eton College (@Eton_College) October 2, 2023
A passage from a Telegraph piece on his appointment has gone viral – and it tells you more about the man than Wikipedia ever could.
The new provost of @Eton_College in today’s @Telegraph
He says most of his friends are Old Etonians – and if he meets somebody who did not go there “I do admit…that it counts against them slightly.”
Was there not a candidate with a more open mind? pic.twitter.com/15GT9eh3qG
— Becky Barrow (@beckymbarrow) October 6, 2023
We’re very fond of Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston, but less sure about their fellow Old Etonians, David Cameron, George Osborne and Boris Johnson – going off their records in office.
People were unimpressed.
1.
This is the new provost of Eton. I guess we should be grateful he was willing to say this out loud. pic.twitter.com/dGD00voooK
— Phil Baty (@Phil_Baty) October 7, 2023
2.
“Why weren’t they there”? Maybe because they didn’t shit money, or had a uterus, Nick. https://t.co/p3mzrKlIPL
— Antipodes Annie #AreWeDoingABit? (@lacuchinaNZ) October 7, 2023
3.
Imagine still caring about who did or didn’t go to Eton when you’re aged 66. pic.twitter.com/LA6vnU6vfa
— Joanna Hardy-Susskind (@Joanna__Hardy) October 6, 2023
4.
so for starters here, this incudes all women. He's never found any woman he's met, through work, business or travel, as interesting as a boy who went to Eton.
This is an absolutely rabid level of misogyny, and intellectually infantilising for the boys now in his care. https://t.co/QmxHxYxIDu
— Dr Fern Riddell (@FernRiddell) October 7, 2023
5.
Imagine limiting your interest in the world – your interest in people of all places and cultures – simply to those whose monied background means they happen to have been in the same school in the same Berkshire town as you.
That's Tories, that's Brexit, that's what has to change. https://t.co/b89GiJHnWz— Danny Wallace (@dannywallace) October 6, 2023
6.
This does not seem to me the mindset of someone who should be running a school. https://t.co/caqgDd7NBZ
— James Ball (@jamesrbuk) October 6, 2023
7.
Sir Nicholas Coleridge — soon to be provost of Eton — believes there are a lot of Etonians in journalism because the school magazine was simply that good. The man has soup for brains. pic.twitter.com/chQImpNnzj
— Mic Wright (@brokenbottleboy) October 6, 2023
8.
What a tragic comment, a sad confession of narrow horizons, a closed mind and a snobbery that is tragic rather than hateful. https://t.co/kbKG5o3TVl
— Dr Adam Rutherford (@AdamRutherford) October 6, 2023