A Tory frontbencher who spoke out in defence of grammar schools in The Times yesterday is facing the sack in next month’s reshuffle.

Graham Brady, the Europe spokesman, was “severely reprimanded” after he published data suggesting that grammar schools improve the results of entire neighbourhoods – in defiance of David Cameron’s attempts to end the furore.

The Tory leader is expected to carry out a wideranging reshuffle after Gordon Brown becomes leader next month and Mr Brady is almost certain to lose his job.

He incurred the wrath of the Tory leader after suggesting that selection at 11 raised GCSE standards for everyone in the area, especially ethnic minority children. This came a day after Mr Cameron called critics of his refusal to bring back grammar schools “inverse class warriors”.

A Tory source said that Mr Cameron “hit the roof” over the comments. Mr Cameron, along with his chief of staff, Ed Llewellyn, instructed Patrick McLoughlin, the Chief Whip, to act yesterday morning, before the Tory leader flew off on holiday. A spokeswoman for Mr Cameron said: “Graham has been severely reprimanded by the Chief Whip and told to stick to his brief.”

Mr Brady, a former grammar school pupil, was among the first Tories to challenge the party leadership’s decision to drop a commitment to bring back selection by ability. He called for an increase in grammar schools in inner city areas in an article on the New Statesmanwebsite, resulting in a summons to meet Mr McLoughlin. Mr Cameron is highly unlikely to tolerate a second such transgression.

The row began after David Willetts, the Shadow Education Secretary, gave a speech to the CBI in which he restated Tory policy not to build more grammar schools. This led to the sharpest bout of discontent in Tory ranks since Mr Cameron became leader.

On Sunday Mr Cameron declared the row to be over, insisting that he wanted to focus instead on academic setting within nonselective schools in the hope of creating “effectively a ‘grammar stream’ in every subject in every school”. But yesterday Mr Brady revived the furore by releasing data to The Times that indicated that in areas with no selective education 42.6 per cent of pupils get five or more GCSEs at grade A*-C including English and maths.

This compared with 46 per cent in partially selective areas and 49.8 per cent in areas where all pupils take the 11-plus. The Tories dispute the validity of his figures. They say the results of children in selective authorities such as Kent cannot be directly compared with those in nonselective areas because of children’s differing social backgrounds.

They cite research from Professor Paul Gregg, from Bristol University, who found that selection had “little or no impact on attainment” when social background was taken into account.

Mr Gregg also found that in selective areas, a clever child from a poor background had a 32 per cent chance of passing the 11-plus, whereas a more affluent highability child had a 60 per cent chance.

Mr Willetts said yesterday: “Many grammar schools are excellent, which is why we are keeping them. But a whole range of serious educational researchers have shown that the chance of an able child from a modest background getting to an academically successful school, whatever their type, is low.”

Yesterday Mr Cameron faced further criticism. In a letter to him Martin Pearman, the head of Ripon Grammar School, said his institution served some of the most disadvantaged children in the city.

He added: “Independent schools do so much more to entrench social advantage than grammar schools ever could, yet they seem immune from criticism . . . Independent schools. . . select simply on the basis of ability to pay.”

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