Tom Powell
PRIME Minister Mariano Rajoy has named a new education minister in a bid to reverse his party’s declining popularity in time for the general elections.
Inigo Mendez de Vigo, 59, was sworn in as the PP’s new Education, Culture and Sports Minister, with Jose Ignacio Wert making way.
The lawyer had until now been Rajoy’s Secretary of State for the European Union in Brussels, while his predecessor Wert was consistently rated one of the least popular ministers in government.
His controversial Education Quality Improvement Act (LOMCE) in 2013 united teachers, students and opposition parties against the PP.
The PSOE labelled it ‘classist, segregating and backwards’, promising to abolish it should they return to government.
Mendez de Vigo, whois also a Baron, is now hoping to swing the electorate back in favour of the PP, following the disastrous local elections in May, which foretold a major political shift away from the two traditional ruling parties.
He has published many books and articles on Europe, and is a regular contributor to national newspaper ABC.
