One of the hallmarks of traditional Conservatism was a belief in rule by the landed classes. By the 20th century, it might be thought that idea’s time had gone, that the new age of democracy would see the end of deference. A simple run through of Britain’s post-war political leaders might Illustrate the limits to any such process: Attlee (Haileybury), Churchill (Harrow), Gaitskell (Winchester); Eden, Macmillan and Home were all Old Etonians. Indeed, of the eighteen members of Eden’s cabinet, ten went to Eton; in 1955, one in five Conservative backbenchers were Old Etonians, like Eden here in 1910.
Nor was the domination of national life by the great public schools confined to the Conservative Party. A 1939 survey showed that three out of four leading figures in the church, judiciary, senior civil service and leading companies were educated in the public schools. Two-thirds of all those earning over £1,000…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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