Continuing our minister in focus blog series, Junior Policy Analyst Harry Kesterton analyses the challenges and opportunities ahead for Paul Waugh, the newly appointed Minister for Early Education.
For a more macro look at Burnham’s appointments, see our recent briefing here.
Background
A political journalist for more than 20 years before entering Parliament, Paul Waugh is well acquainted with the inner workings of Westminster. His career has taken him from the press gallery to the green benches and now, just two years after becoming an MP, into government.
He served as editor of PoliticsHome and deputy political editor of The Independent and London Evening Standard, and his “authoritative” Waugh Zone column, written while executive editor of HuffPost UK, was reportedly a mainstay on MPs’ and ministers’ desks. Known for putting tough questions to politicians, he will now be on the receiving end of such challenges.
First elected in 2024, Waugh’s appointment as Minister for Early Education marks a rapid rise into government but hands him responsibility for a sector largely new to him.
The challenge
Waugh inherits his predecessor Olivia Bailey’s responsibilities, covering early years education, including provision for children with SEND, the home learning environment, early communication, and the early years workforce. His portfolio also includes Best Start Family Hubs and parenting support, breakfast clubs, and free school meals.
It is a sensitive brief. A series of high-profile deaths and abuse cases involving young children have intensified scrutiny of safeguarding and standards within nurseries, prompting changes to Ofsted inspections and wider reviews of the sector. This comes alongside mainstay issues such as workforce and capacity. These challenges sit directly alongside Labour’s commitment to give every child the “best start in life” and its ambition for 75% of five-year-olds to be school-ready by 2028. Waugh will therefore need to balance expansion of provision while being held closely accountable for safeguarding and education outcomes.
The opportunity
Waugh’s arrival offers an opportunity to reset relations with a sector bruised by recent controversies, and his relative unfamiliarity with the brief could allow him to approach longstanding disputes with a clean slate. He also inherits an area in which Labour has demonstrated a willingness to spend, through Best Start Family Hubs, expanded free school meals, an increased Early Years Pupil Premium, and the expansion of school-based nurseries.
However, the role of government in childcare is also changing fundamentally. In her penultimate appearance before the Education Committee, Bailey spoke of the Department “stepp[ing] back” to take a more holistic view of early education and the childcare system. With around four in five childcare hours now government-funded, Waugh is taking responsibility for what Bailey argued is an emerging public service rather than simply overseeing a childcare market.
How that service is funded and structured will be an early test. The CMA launched a market study into early years education and childcare in July, with emerging findings and potential reforms due for consultation in December ahead of its final report in May 2027. This comes alongside wider questions over how funding is allocated to local authorities, and as with any redistribution, there will be quiet winners and vocal losers.
Waugh, therefore, has some time to get to grips with the brief, but he is taking over at a crucial point for both the sector and Burnham’s wider agenda. Alan Milburn’s interim review makes clear that the roots of economic inactivity are laid remarkably early, citing evidence suggesting it is possible to predict a child’s NEET risk later in life by age three or four. This makes Waugh’s brief relevant not just to childcare, but to Burnham’s wider ambition to tackle youth unemployment and rebuild routes into work.
There may also be something in Waugh’s background that appeals to the new Prime Minister. Burnham has placed a premium on communicating directly with the public and involving people more closely in government, while Waugh has spent much of his career translating Westminster and policy for a wider audience. With the Government committing significant funding to the sector, his test will be bringing it with him while turning that investment into better outcomes.
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