The Ofsted boss at the heart of a row about the Isle of Wight has resigned
The chairman of education watchdog Ofsted has resigned after calling the Isle of Wight a “ghetto” and claiming the island was home to “inbreeding”.
David Hoare has stepped down with immediate effect, writing in a statement that it had been “a great privilege” to chair the watchdog's board since 2014.
Education secretary Justine Greening said: "I have accepted David Hoare's resignation from the post of chair of the board of Ofsted.
"I would like to thank David for his hard work in this role over the past two years."
Hoare steps down weeks after apologising for his remarks about the Isle of Wight.
In a tape obtained by the Times Education Supplement, Hoare said of the island: "Most people go there for sailing for two weeks a year. There's a sailing club that is one of the best in the world, where there's champagne.
"But just within inches, there are people who live in a ghetto … They think of it as holiday land. But it is shocking. It's a ghetto; there has been inbreeding."
Senior non-executive board member James Kempton has agreed to take on the role of chairman on an interim basis, Ofsted said.