Perhaps that is what politicians are meant to do: just do what the people want. But what happens when what the people want is wrong? Had politicians always just done what the people wanted, we would never have legalised homosexuality or abolished capital punishment. Politicians must reflect public opinion but also lead it, and as values change we can judge the past with new eyes and see things our ancestors could not see. 

The other day, I walked past a police line near my new free school, Michaela Community School in Brent, north London, with sirens wailing every few minutes. I was looking for the home of one of my future pupils. Eventually I found it and was shown into the front room, where there were four bunk beds, grandparents sitting cross-legged on the fraying carpet held together with electric tape, and so many children running around I lost count. They had no idea what bus to take to our school, let alone what a free school is. 

As we struggled to understand each other through their broken English, I thought about how Gove fought for these people, the poor, the voiceless and the weak. And I thought about how one day our grandchildren will clearly see the prejudice that deems such families incapable of educational achievement. History will judge us all.