EAST Hampshire MP Damian Hinds has been named as the new Education Secretary in the Cabinet reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Theresa May, on Monday evening.

The 48-year-old who replaced former Defence Secretary Michael Mates as the MP for the East Hampshire constituency in 2010, when the boundary was also changed to include Liphook and Grayshott.

Mr Hinds, who was tipped for promotion in the widely expected January reshuffle in last week’s Herald, is a former chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility.

The former Oxford University graduate, who worked for 18 years in the pubs and hotel industry after graduating, wrote on Twitter that he was “looking forward to working with the great teachers and lecturers in our schools, colleges and universities giving people the opportunities to make the most of their lives.”

Pressures over school funding and decisions about university tuition fees – which were widely credited for the rise in support for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, after he promised to ditch them before the 2017 General Election which wiped out the Conservative’s majority in Parliament – are likely to be top of his to-do list.

Geoff Barton of the head teachers’ union ASCL said he was disappointed that outgoing Cabinet member Justine Greening, a former comprehensive school pupil, had been replaced by Mr Hinds, who was educated at a Catholic grammar school in Altrincham before heading to Oxford’s Trinity College where he studied politics philosophy and economics.

Mr Barton said: “She has tried hard to tackle the school funding crisis, without any help from the Chancellor or Prime Minister.

Greening had reigned in Tory expectations on the introduction of more selective education policies with more grammar school places – reportedly making her unpopular with a number of people within the Tory Party.

West Sussex head teacher Jules White organised a protest letter sent to 2.5 million parents over school funding problems – he accused the Government of allowing schools policy to become bogged down by “dubious ideological pursuits” – or “tinkering around the edges.”

Mr White said Mr Hinds would have to “urgently address” the issues of funding and teacher shortages.

The National Association of Head Teachers leader Paul Whiteman called for more stability and investment.

He said: "Where budgets are at breaking point and recruitment is still a massive challenge, education does not need more upheaval.”

The Prime Minister has already promised a major review of how students pay for university - after Labour’s pledges to scrap them in a bid to woo younger voters.

The Higher Education Policy Institute’s director Nick Hillman claimed Mr Hinds had "assiduously" raised social mobility since becoming an MP in 2010.

The father of three came to prominence serving as a member of the Education Select Committee after entering the House of Commons nearly eight years ago, and also chaired the All Party Parliamentary Groups for Social Mobility and Credit Unions.

He has also championed supporting dementia groups and has impressed as Minister of Employment at the Department for Work and Pensions since being appointed by Mrs May in July 2016.

He was first appointed as a junior minister – Exchequer Secretary to the Treasurer under Chancellor George Osborne – by David Cameron after the Conservatives regained a Parliamentary majority in May 2015, after five years in Coalition with the Lib Dems,

Since being elected in 2010 with a majority of 13,467, Mr Hinds has increased his vote from 29,137 to 35,263 in June – giving him the 28th highest share of the vote achieved by any MP in the country.