Jonathan Gullis complains he can't get a job as a teacher because he's a TorySource: Times Radio
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00:00I suppose I kind of knew what was coming down the track. I don't think the opinion polls were
00:03hard to see consistently what was going to happen. So I spent a good year mentally preparing for the
00:06reality that was coming my way, whilst also fighting tooth and nail to make sure that I
00:10could make that contest as close as possible. It's been hard. Look, I'll be frank. It was
00:15nearly, what, three months now and I'm still without a job, right? And that's scary. I'm a
00:18father of a four-year-old and a two-year-old. I've got a wife who's extremely supportive,
00:22but of course is worried about the bills. You were a teacher before? I was a teacher before,
00:26and obviously I've applied for a few jobs and sadly not even had an interview yet. So
00:30actually I think the days when being an ex-MP was something that was wanted or
00:34desired is no longer. I think we're now seen as a problem. And so that's a challenge. But
00:39at the other side of the coin, it's nice to actually spend time with my kids. I've noticed
00:44a massive difference by being home every night, being able to do the stories at bedtime, being
00:48able to help my daughter with her homework. It means so much to me. And so that side of things,
00:54I'm not missing at all. In fact, I was able to enjoy getting married in the summer without having
00:57to worry about getting a leaflet delivered anytime soon. So that was a relief to my wife, finally.
01:02Do you think, is there a problem in the teaching profession that it specifically goes against you
01:05in the teaching profession that you were a Conservative MP? I'll be perfectly frank with
01:08you. When I entered teaching, it was always slightly more centre-left leaning, but I always
01:12felt that it was fair. When I left the profession to enter Parliament, I felt if being a Conservative
01:16was something that was treated with disdain, and I do think there's a lot of schools that will see
01:21who I used to represent and maybe my views, which they may not like. And because of that,
01:25not because of what I can do as a teacher, but because of that, I won't even be given
01:29an interview. And I think that's a damning indictment on the profession that I do love
01:32and do care about. But sadly, if you're going to have too many activists in the classroom,
01:36which I do think we have at this time, then politics is going to sadly determine who's
01:39allowed to work in that profession, which is not good for pupils. It's not good for parents,
01:43but particularly pupils, because they need teachers to be coming to deliver high quality education,
01:48not pursuing the very rapid woke agenda that sadly has entrenched many of our education sectors.