Estelle Morris - a Blairite before Blair

It was the best insight you could have into the character of Estelle Morris, the new Secretary of State for Education and Skills. The event was her first address to a teachers' conference after being appointed as David Blunkett's number two three years ago. She stepped up to the rostrum and for the next hour and 10 minutes spoke ­ to borrow a phrase from BBC Radio 4's Just A Minute ­ "without hesitation, repetition or deviating from the subject" about her passion for education. There were notes to hand but she ignored them, talking non-stop. It was an impressive performance.

That is her strong point. She is a brilliant talker. No one can deny that the 49-year-old MP for Birmingham Yardley's three top priorities are those of Tony Blair ­ "education, education, education" ­ and that she has persuaded many an audience of her passion for the subject.

Most people who know her say she is a pragmatist. For example, she will not get hooked on privatising education services but she will insist on bringing in more private-sector involvement if she thinks it will work.

"I think she was a kind of Blairite before Blairism was invented," says Professor Jim Campbell, her tutor at the University of Warwick where she studied for a BA in education in the early Seventies. "She was very interested in making sure her ideas would work. She was always ready to make strong contributions, but from a pragmatic not an ideological point of view."

Professor Campbell has kept in touch with his former pupil. "I think she is pretty straight for a politician and has got a lot of credibility as a result of her years as a teacher in Coventry," he says.

After 18 years in teaching, ending as head of sixth-form studies at Sidney Stringer Community School, she gave up the job to become an MP in 1992. Teachers' leaders reckon she will be straightforward to deal with but are under no illusions about her being a soft touch. "I think she has a very strong determination to deliver the Blair Government's agenda," says David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers. "I am very happy with the appointment but I know there will be difficult times ahead, with teacher shortages and the discussions on teachers' workload."

Estelle Morris is widely acknowledged to be a safe pair of hands. No one can remember her making a gaffe during her time as School Standards minister. The nearest she came to it was during an address to the Girls' School Association when she advocated a softer line in dealing with pupils caught in possession of illegal drugs.

Speaking out strongly against automatic exclusion, she faced a barrage of criticism from the right-wing tabloids. However, her stance won her plaudits from headteachers who agreed that ­ while drug pushers should be expelled ­ pupils caught in possession should be given a second chance.

There is no doubt that her political acumen has grown during her first four years as a minister. A colleague remembers an occasion during the early days of the Labour administration when Morris rushed over to join him and Stephen Byers, who was then David Blunkett's number two. "We must do something about Chris Woodhead," she is alleged to have said ­ an unthinkable utterance in those days of the new Blairite Britain. Byers raised his eyes heavenwards as if to say "you've got a lot to learn". Chris Woodhead was unsackable in those days because the Government had to show it was strong on standards. Morris would not be so "off message" today.

There are two anxieties about her promotion. One is that, having been promoted from within the education department, she will lack the clout to fight her corner in the Cabinet because she has had no experience of any other government office. David Hart disagrees. "I think that would be a very bad misreading of the situation," he says. "I am sure she will receive strong backing from Number 10 given that education is such a priority."

The second anxiety is a sense that she will be more of a minister for primary and secondary schools than for higher education. This is born of the fact that she has been Schools Minister for four years and has therefore never made any pronouncements on universities and colleges. (There may also be a touch of snobbery, a feeling that because she failed her A-levels ­ as she did ­ she is not really higher education material.) She will be trying hard to dispel this view; aides have already announced that she will publish a review of the options for higher education by the end of July.

It seems, though, that some would relish a neglect of higher education. Alan Ryan, Warden of New College, Oxford, says: "I rather assume that all her interests will be in schools rather than universities. Politicians don't understand how the universities work. It will be a period of benign neglect, and I don't mind that."

One thing is certain, though. Estelle Morris is not someone who neglects anything. She lives and breathes education and will be busting a gut to make sure her department delivers on improving standards.

r.garner@independent.co.uk