Boris Johnson’s top team does not include any LGBT MPs, is just 25% female and two-thirds are privately educated, it has emerged.
The new prime minister trumpeted his new ministers - which include Jacob Rees-Mogg and Priti Patel - as “a Cabinet for modern Britain” after his so-called “midsummer massacre” reshuffle on Wednesday.
But the UK’s new premier now faces an avalanche of criticism from MPs, activists and charities over his failure to be more inclusive, with the PM appointing a majority of white, privately educated men.
While more women and ethnic minorities were promoted to Johnson’s hardline Brexit Cabinet, 76% of the Cabinet are men and just 18% and not one MP is LGBT.
Johnson, who himself attended the prestigious fee-paying Eton school, also elevated 21 privately educated MPs (64% of his Cabinet).
The breakdown of Boris Johnson’s Cabinet
Female - 24%
Male - 76%
LGBT - 0%
BAME - 18%
Privately educated - 64%
State educated - 36%
Oxford/Cambridge University - 45%
The social mobility charity the Sutton Trust has hit out at the new PM.
Its analysis finds that of the 33 MPs Johnson has picked to be ministers, 45% went to Oxford or Cambridge. This compares with 31% of all Conservative MPs, 20% of Labour MPs and 24% of all MPs.
It shows that proportion of privately-educated MPs attending Cabinet has barely improved since the tenure of Tory prime ministers John Major and Margaret Thatcher when it was 71% and 91% respectively.
Under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown 32% were privately educated and under Clement Attlee, the figure was 25%.
Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, said Johnson must do more to boost social mobility.
“Britain is an increasingly divided society,” he said. “Divided by politics, by class, by geography. Social mobility, the potential for those to achieve success regardless of their background, remains low. Addressing this must be at the heart of our new prime minister’s tenure in Downing Street.
“The make-up of Johnson’s Cabinet underlines once again how unevenly spread the opportunities are to enter the elites.”
The failure to pick a more diverse top team has also sparked anger in the Conservative Party.
One Tory MP told HuffPost UK: “Zero LGBT, 25% female and 2/3 privately educated - it’s hard to think of a Cabinet less reflective of modern Britain.
“It’s hugely disappointed after all the rhetoric.”
Ella Robertson, chair of Conservative Young Women, added: “We were promised more women, which is what we technically got.
“But if countries such as Canada, Columbia and Ethiopia can have gender parity in their Cabinets we should be aiming for better.”
The so-called great offices of state - foreign secretary, home secretary and chancellor - are all occupied by MPs who are the offspring of immigrants in Dominic Raab, Priti Patel and Sajid Javid, respectively.
But Labour MP Jess Phillips said the “only thing that is truly represented in his cabinet is a hard Brexit”.
She said: “The cabinet should of course be 50% female - that should be a no-brainer, especially given Johnson’s views and his character in relation to women.
“When it comes to the cabinet’s educational background, it should be no surprise that an Eton boy picks a load of private school kids.
“There should, of course, be much better representation of the country and where they have been schooled.”