The new education secretary talks about her background, the ‘incredible state schools’ she went to, and her plans to transform the system

• Labour makes working-class children key to schools reform

Bridget Phillipson is standing up to welcome us into her large, very smart new office. A government red box is sitting on her desk, and a big union jack fills one corner. She is smiling broadly but wears a look that suggests she is not 100% at ease, not entirely comfortable, in her plush new surroundings.

Opulence is not her thing. The secretary of state for education’s room was expensively refurbished with faux vintage clocks and tables, a cream leather sofa and chairs, to create a boutiquey feel, under the tenure of her Conservative predecessor, Gillian Keegan. Phillipson quietly but deliberately drops this into the conversation early on.