Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, was today labelled a bully after ignoring the advice of MPs to appoint his choice of Children's Commissioner.

Barry Sheerman, the chairman of the education select committee, said that it was a bad day for democracy when Mr Balls decided to override the body's recommendation and install Maggie Atkinson in the job.

Ms Atkinson, presently director of children’s services in Gateshead and a former president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, will replace Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green, whose five-year appointment as England’s first Children’s Commissioner finishes at the end of February.

“Maggie Atkinson is a very competent woman but we just didn’t think she had the independence of mind to stand up to a secretary of state who likes to get his own way,” Mr Sheerman told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“Most of us know that Ed Balls is a bit of a bully and he likes his own way and we have seen a track record of problems over Ken Boston at the QCA and Bruce Liddington the schools commissioner, who was very independent - he has gone and the school commissioner has been abolished.

“Time after time, we see the secretary of state wanting to have people who will do his bidding. He is more of an executive man, rather than a parliamentary man and I think it is a bad day for parliamentary democracy when - if we are having these pre-appointment hearings - the very first one to say it didn’t agree with the appointment gets overridden.”

The pre-appointment hearings were introduced on a trial basis last year to improve accountability in the appointment of a range of public figures but until today, no nominees had been snubbed.

Mr Sheerman is considering standing for election as chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, but dismissed suggestions that his action was designed to convince the party’s backbenchers that he was himself able to stand up to senior ministers.

The decision to turn down Ms Atkinson was taken unanimously without a vote by all eight committee members from all three major parties, he said.

The committee’s report concluded: “While we are satisfied that Maggie Atkinson demonstrated a high degree of professional competence, we feel unable to endorse her appointment, as we would like to have seen more sign of determination to assert the independence of the role, to challenge the status quo on children’s behalf and to stretch the remit of the post, in particular by championing children’s rights.”

Mr Sheerman explained: “We thought that someone who was keener on the campaigning role, someone who was feistier in standing up to the secretary of state (was needed),” he said.

“He does have form in this area. Ofsted is at its weakest that I have known under six secretaries of state. He doesn’t like strong independent-minded people who stand up to him and that’s why Sir Bruce Liddington went, that’s why we had all the problems with Ken Boston at the QCA last year. There is a history and we at the select committee see the pattern.”

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