Heartwarming second Labour’s faculties chief is shocked by her outdated trainer

Asked if there was a particular teacher who inspired her as she records an election campaign video, Bridget Phillipson has no clue what is about to happen next.

As she begins to talk about her “brilliant Spanish teacher Miss Haq”, out from behind the camera steps Zahida Haq, her childhood teacher. “Oh my god,” she says in surprise.

Ms Haq says the Shadow Education Secretary is “pretty much the embodiment of what I set out to achieve”.

The 40-year-old, who could now be on the verge of taking over the running of England’s schools, was raised by a single mum in a council house in Washington in the North East relied on free school meals. But after winning a place at Oxford University, she became an MP and is now one of Labour’s rising stars.

“I remember you had a beautiful smile and an incredible thirst for knowledge,” Ms Haq tells her. “I remember you sitting at the front right hand side of the classroom with long plaits and just being an absolute model student really. I’d gone into education to make a difference for children like myself who’d come from the council estates like the estate that I grew up on. To inspire young people to achieve the best academic outcomes that they could and to use that knowledge and that learning for the greater good.”

Ms Phillipson, who was bullied at school because she was poor, says Ms Haq helped give her the confidence she so desperately needed. “What was fantastic was not just that she was a brilliant Spanish teacher, but for the first time she set up a girls rugby team in our school, which allowed us to travel around the region,” she says. “It gave us confidence, we made new friends, and she gave up so much of her own time to do that above and beyond what she was doing in the classroom. And she was just such a kind and determined person and she wanted the best for us.”

Now Ms Phillipson says she wants all kids to get the chance to take part in music, sport, art and drama, paid for by axing tax breaks for private schools and changing the way schools are assessed. “We’ll do that very quickly if we form the next government to make sure that all children get a breadth in their education, but also enjoy the joy and the wonder of art and sport and much more besides, because for so many children, it’s what makes school fun,” she says. “And increasingly that’s becoming the preserve of people whose parents have got the money to pay for extras after school.”

Insisting that “every local school should be a good school”, she adds: “I wouldn’t be where I am today were it not for the fantastic education I received at local state schools. I know the difference that education can make to children like me, brilliant teachers changed my life.”