General Election 2015: Lib Dems to target control of Department for Education in future coalition, says Nick Clegg

The Lib Dem leader criticised Michael Gove's 'zany' ideas

Nick Clegg describes the Lib Dems as the "party of education" (Getty Images)

Control of the Department for Education could be one of the key Liberal Democrat demands in any future coalition, Nick Clegg has suggested.

The Liberal Democrat leader said he wanted his party to run the department "on our own terms" after having to fight off the "zany" ideas of Michael Gove, the former Education Secretary demoted by David Cameron last year after becoming “toxic” with teachers and parents.

Mr Clegg said the Lib Dems were the "party of education" as he promised to free teachers from the political interference he said they had experienced over the last five years.

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Asked if education was the kind of cabinet post he wanted for the Lib Dems if there is another coalition, the Deputy Prime Minister said: "I would, particularly having wasted a lot of time dealing with a lot of zany, ideological gimmicks from Michael Gove and his team.

"It would be a good thing if the Lib Dems were able to run education policy on our own terms, not least because we are the only party which is prepared to give the schools, colleges and nurseries the means that they need to absorb 400,000 new youngsters in our education system over the next five years."

It is believed that Mr Clegg would ask his coalition partner to install his close ally David Laws, currently number two in the Education Department as Schools Minister, to land the top job. But the Conservatives or Labour might want the key post for one of their ministers – and Mr Clegg is likely to have fewer MPs in the next parliament than the last, and therefore fewer ministers.

Under the Lib Dems’ plans, independent education standards watchdog would curb ministers' ability to interfere with curriculum content and exams in order to "get politics out of the classroom".

A friend of Mr Gove said: "By zany and ideological, does Clegg mean teaching children to spell properly and do their times tables? Or making exams harder? Or training teachers in schools rather than left-wing colleges dominated by the unions? Either he's lost the plot or he's lying again, as he did on tuition fees."

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