FORMER Tory MP Jonathan Gullis has claimed he is being discriminated against by the “rapid woke agenda” as he has failed to re-enter the teaching profession since leaving Parliament nearly three months ago.
The one-time junior schools minister has said that he has so far failed to get an interview in his bid to get a job as a teacher.
Before entering politics, he was a teacher for seven years and rose to become head-of-year at a school near Birmingham before being elected as an MP for Stoke-on-Trent.
Gullis blamed “activists in the classroom” for blocking him getting a job and said it was “scary” being unemployed with two children to look after.
He told Times Radio: “It’s been hard, I’ll be frank. It’s been, what, nearly three months now? And I’m still without a job and that’s scary; I’m a father of a four-year-old and a two-year-old, I’ve got a wife who’s extremely supportive but of course is worried about the bills. I was a teacher before and I’ve applied for a few jobs and sadly not even had an interview yet.”
Gullis, who became known for his rowdy manner in the Commons chamber while an MP, said that having experience in Parliament was “no longer” seen as desirable by other employers and added: “We’re now seen as a problem.”
“I’ve applied for a few jobs and sadly not even had an interview yet.”@GullisJonathan admits he’s struggling to return to teaching after losing his seat as a Conservative MP because there are "too many activists in the classroom"@HugoRifkind | #TimesRadio pic.twitter.com/YDi8x4FCxu
— Times Radio (@TimesRadio) September 30, 2024
But he said he was enjoying more time with his children since leaving frontline politics, adding: “I’ve noticed a massive difference by being home every night, being able to do the stories at bedtime, being able to help my daughter with her homework.”
Asked whether he believed his political views were a barrier to him re-entering the profession, Gullis said: “I’ll be perfectly frank with you, when I entered teaching, it was always slightly more centre-left leaning but I always felt that it was fair.
“By the time I left the profession to enter Parliament, I felt being a Conservative was something that was treated with disdain and I do think there’s a lot of schools that will see who I used to be, represent and maybe my views, which they may not like and because of that – not because of what I can do as a teacher, but because of that – I won’t even be given an interview.”
Gullis claimed this was a “damning indictment on the profession”, adding: “But sadly, if you’re going to have too many activists in the classroom, which I do think we have at this time, then politics is going to sadly determine who’s allowed to work in that profession, which is not good for pupils, it’s not good for parents, but particularly pupils, because they need teachers to be coming to deliver high-quality education not pursuing the very rapid woke agenda that sadly has entrenched many of our education sectors.”
Other MPs have struggled to re-enter the workforce after leaving Parliament. Former Scottish Labour MP Paul Sweeney (above), now an MSP for Glasgow, previously spoke about how he claimed benefits and struggled with suicidal thoughts after losing his seat at the 2019 election.
MPs who lose their seat at a General Election or who step down at a snap election are entitled to two months’ net pay, or £9878. Those who have served more than two years in Parliament are also able to claim a severance payment, which averages to an extra £5250 but depends on the amount of time served.
The Department for Education was approached for comment.
