Responding to the Chief Inspector of Schools, Michael Wilshaw’s comments in the Sunday Times, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt MP said, “Michael Gove needs to rule out any involvement either personally or through his Special Advisors in what appears to be a smear campaign against Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector. Such antics are below the office of a Secretary of State. "Ofsted plays a crucial role in upholding standards in our schools. Michael Gove should not seek to discredit Ofsted because Ofsted has given negative judgements to underperfoming free schools. Michael Wilshaw is right that there is a complete lack of local oversight of Free Schools to prevent the sort of failure Ofsted has identified. But instead of addressing this, Michael Gove appears to be playing politics.”