Jonathan Gullis suggests he has taken on schools brief

Former teacher Jonathan Gullis has suggested he has taken on the schools brief in his new role as an education minister.

The MP for Stoke-on-Trent North joined the Department for Education (DfE) as a parliamentary under-secretary of state earlier this month.

However, it was unclear exactly where his responsibilities would lie – with his brief, along with that of fellow new minister Kelly Tolhurst, yet to be formally announced.

The DfE told the PA news agency ministerial portfolios will be confirmed next week.

But Mr Gullis’s LinkedIn page has already been updated to state he is now the minister for school standards.

With Andrea Jenkyns serving as the minister for skills, further and higher education, this suggests Ms Tolhurst may assume the children and families remit.

Mr Gullis, who used to sit on the Commons Education Committee, is a vocal proponent of the grammar school system, and has run a campaign to scrap the ban on opening new institutions.

He would be another fresh face in the schools minister role, succeeding Will Quince and Robin Walker, who both held the job for just a matter of months.

His new boss, Education Secretary Kit Malthouse, recently became the fifth person to hold the top post in the department in the space of a year.