94-464: Michael Andrew Gove ( / ɡ oʊ v / ; born Graeme Andrew Logan , 26 August 1967) is a Scottish journalist, author, and retired politician who served in various Cabinet positions under David Cameron , Theresa May , Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak . Apart from periods as a backbencher from July 2016 to June 2017 and July to October 2022, he served continuously in the Cabinet from 2010 to 2024. He
188-414: A ban on bee-harming pesticides like neonicotinoids . He was praised by Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven for his strong stance on issues like bee-harming pesticides, single-use plastic and the future of the internal combustion engine", adding "Gove has defied many people's expectations on the environment". In October 2017, Gove issued an apology for a joke which compared tough interviews on
282-753: A brief interlude at Grampian Television in Aberdeen. After moving to national television in 1991, Gove worked for the BBC 's On the Record , and the Channel 4 current affairs programme A Stab in the Dark , alongside David Baddiel and Tracey MacLeod . In 1994 he began working for the BBC's Today programme. In 1995 he was identified by The Guardian as part of a group of "a new breed of 21st-century Tories". He broke
376-469: A conservative think tank launched in 2002, and chaired it for three years. He was commissioned to write a biography of Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke , in 2004. Gove won the Conservative candidacy for Surrey Heath on 5 July 2004, after the sitting MP Nick Hawkins was deselected by the local Conservative association. He then arranged to leave the staff of The Times , but was retained on
470-485: A contract to write a weekly column for the newspaper and other such pieces as might be commissioned ad hoc . He entered the House of Commons after being elected in the 2005 general election , winning by 10,845 votes and a 22.7% majority. After being selected as an MP he stood down from Moral Maze but continued to appear on Newsnight Review . He was commissioned to write a book on terrorism in 2005, Celsius 7/7 , which
564-538: A future race for the Conservative Party leadership, though Gove had said in an interview a few months before that "I'm constitutionally incapable of it. There's a special extra quality you need that is indefinable, and I know I don't have it. There's an equanimity, an impermeability and a courage that you need. There are some things in life you know it's better not to try." Gove was criticised by teachers unions for his attempts to overhaul English education. At
658-568: A general statement that "the people... have had enough of experts". In 2021, Louise Richardson , the vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford , said she was "embarrassed" that Gove was an alumnus, on account of these comments. In his memoir For the Record , Cameron described Gove during this period as "mendacious", adding: "One quality shone through, disloyalty. Disloyalty to me and, later, disloyalty to Boris [Johnson]". After Cameron announced his intention to resign as prime minister, Gove
752-480: A generation" while The Guardian labelled it as a "Machiavellian move". Gove said: "I wanted to help build a team behind Boris Johnson so that a politician who argued for leaving the European Union could lead us to a better future. But I have come, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead. I have, therefore, decided to put my name forward for
846-463: A plan to improve children's grasp of English literature and language . Academies were not required to follow the national curriculum, and so weren't affected by the reforms. Children who failed to write coherently and grammatically, or who were weak in spelling, were penalised in the new examinations. Standards in mathematics and science were also strengthened. Gove won the "Minister of the Year" award at
940-540: A political body – that is to say the Cabinet – which may have to make policy decisions upon the basis of the legal advice the law officers have given." The Cabinet is a committee of the Privy Council (though this interpretation has been challenged) and, as such, all Cabinet ministers must be privy counsellors. Members of the Cabinet are by convention chosen from members of the two houses of Parliament, as convention dictates that ministers may only be recruited from
1034-421: A property for which he claimed around £13,000 to cover stamp duty. Gove also claimed for a cot mattress, despite children's items being banned under updated Commons rules. Gove said he would repay the claim for the cot mattress, but maintained that his other claims were "below the acceptable threshold costs for furniture" and that moving house was necessary "to effectively discharge my parliamentary duties". While he
SECTION 10
#17327682612941128-463: A remedy worse than the disease". Charles I began a formal "Cabinet Council" from his accession in 1625, as his Privy Council, or "private council", and the first recorded use of "cabinet" by itself for such a body comes from 1644, and is again hostile and associates the term with dubious foreign practices. There were ministries in England led by the chief minister , which was a personage leading
1222-541: A weekly column on politics and current affairs for the paper from 1999 until 2005 and contributed to The Times Literary Supplement , Prospect magazine and The Spectator . He was on good terms with the owner of the paper, Rupert Murdoch , whom Gove described in evidence before the Leveson Inquiry as "one of the most impressive and significant figures of the last 50 years". He wrote a sympathetic biography of Michael Portillo , Michael Portillo: The Future of
1316-578: Is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom , and Cabinet minister , responsible for the overall leadership and strategic direction of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). They are responsible for local government in England . The office holder works alongside the other ministers in the department. The corresponding shadow minister is
1410-642: Is appointed, they have been granted a customary peerage. The Cabinet is now made up almost entirely of members of the House of Commons. Civil servants from the Cabinet Secretariat and special advisers (on the approval of the prime minister) can also attend Cabinet meetings, but neither take part in discussions. It has been suggested that the modern Cabinet is too large, including by former Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill and scholars Robert Hazell and Rodney Brazier . Hazell has suggested merging
1504-545: Is the ultimate decision-making body of the executive within the Westminster system of government in traditional constitutional theory. This interpretation was originally put across in the work of 19th-century constitutionalists such as Walter Bagehot , who described the Cabinet as the "efficient secret" of the British political system in his book The English Constitution . The political and decision-making authority of
1598-673: The Association of Teachers and Lecturers Annual Conference in March 2013 a motion of no-confidence in Gove was passed. The next month the National Union of Teachers passed a vote of no confidence in Gove at their annual conference and called for his resignation. The National Association of Head Teachers and NASUWT also passed motions of no confidence at their conferences that year. On 15 July 2014, Gove's four-year stint in charge of
1692-704: The Conservative Party . He became a member of the Oxford University Conservative Association and was secretary of Aberdeen South Young Conservatives . He helped write speeches for Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet ministers, including Peter Lilley and Michael Howard . During his first year, he met future Prime Minister Boris Johnson and ran his campaign to be President of the Oxford Union . In an interview with Andrew Gimson , Gove remarked that at Oxford, Johnson
1786-478: The Council of Ministers or similar bodies of other countries are often informally referred to as cabinets. The modern Cabinet system was set up by Prime Minister David Lloyd George during his premiership, 1916–1922, with a Cabinet Office and secretariat, committee structures, unpublished minutes , and a clearer relationship with departmental Cabinet ministers. The formal procedures, practice and proceedings of
1880-575: The House of Commons and the House of Lords . The Ministerial Code says that the business of the Cabinet (and cabinet committees ) is mainly questions of major issues of policy, questions of critical importance to the public and questions on which there is an unresolved argument between departments. The work of the Cabinet is scrutinised by the Shadow Cabinet , made up of members of the Official Opposition . Until at least
1974-571: The July 2022 government crisis and being dismissed by Johnson. Under Rishi Sunak, he was reinstated to his previous roles of Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations. He stood down as an MP at the 2024 general election . In September of the same year, Gove was appointed editor of The Spectator . Gove was born Graeme Andrew Logan on 26 August 1967. His biological mother, whom he originally understood to have been an unmarried Edinburgh student,
SECTION 20
#17327682612942068-551: The Kittybrewster area of the city. He attended the independent Robert Gordon's College and studied English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford . He then began a career as a journalist at The Press and Journal before having a long tenure as a leader writer at The Times . Elected for Surrey Heath at the 2005 general election , he was appointed Secretary of State for Education in the Cameron–Clegg coalition . He terminated
2162-695: The Notting Hill Set , which included Conservative leader David Cameron , future Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne , Ed Vaizey , Nick Boles and Rachel Whetstone . Over a five-month period between December 2005 and April 2006, Gove claimed more than £7,000 on a house bought with his wife Sarah Vine , in 2002. Around a third of the money was spent at OKA , an upmarket interior design company established by Annabel Astor , David Cameron's mother-in-law. Shortly afterwards he reportedly ' flipped ' his designated second home,
2256-504: The Today programme to a sexual encounter with Harvey Weinstein . He was criticised by political opponents who felt allegations of sexual abuse were not a suitable subject for jokes. Other policies Gove had announced by December 2017 were that CCTV would be used in all slaughterhouses and beavers would be reintroduced into the UK. Gove faced criticism over the appointment of Ben Goldsmith to
2350-403: The constitutional convention of collective ministerial responsibility . Cabinet ministers, like all ministers, are appointed and may be dismissed by the monarch without notice or reason, on the advice of the prime minister. The allocation and transfer of responsibilities between ministers and departments is also generally at the prime minister's discretion. The Cabinet has always been led by
2444-467: The power of the prime minister , who moved from being the primus inter pares of the Asquith Cabinets of 1906 onwards, to the dominating figures of David Lloyd George, Stanley Baldwin , and Winston Churchill . The Institute for Government claims that the reduced number of full Cabinet meetings signifies "that the role of Cabinet as a formal decision-making body has been in decline since
2538-429: The shadow secretary of state for housing, communities and local government . Michael Gove held the position starting from 25 October 2022, previously held the position from September 2021 to July 2022 under Boris Johnson and then under Rishi Sunak from October 2022 to 5 July 2024. Angela Rayner was appointed to the role under Sir Keir Starmer on 5 July 2024. The Department of Communities and Local Government
2632-473: The 16th century, individual officers of state had separate property, powers and responsibilities granted with their separate offices by royal command, and the Crown and the Privy Council constituted the only co-ordinating authorities. In England, phrases such as "cabinet counsel", meaning advice given in private, in a cabinet in the sense of a small room, to the monarch, occur from the late 16th century, and, given
2726-459: The 2011 Spectator awards, In March 2011, Gove was criticised for not understanding the importance of school architecture and accused of having misrepresented the cost. In February 2011, he had told Parliament that one individual had made £1,000,000 in one year when the true figure was £700,000 for five advisers at different times over a four-year period. During the Cameron–Clegg ministry, Gove
2820-469: The Cabinet after May dismissed him in 2016 after she became prime minister. Following his appointment, Gove announced that a microbead ban would be put into place by the end of 2017. However, the ban arrived in early 2018. It meant that manufacturers could no longer produce the tiny beads used in cosmetics and care products. Another ban came in June 2018 which stopped shops from selling products that contained
2914-574: The Cabinet remain largely unpublished. This development grew out of the exigencies of the First World War , where faster and better co-ordinated decisions across government were seen as a crucial part of the war effort. Decisions on mass conscription , co-ordination worldwide with other governments across international theatres, and armament production tied into a general war strategy that could be developed and overseen from an inner " War Cabinet ". The country went through successive crises after
Michael Gove - Misplaced Pages Continue
3008-555: The Cabinet. The total number of Cabinet ministers who are entitled to a salary is capped by statute at 21, plus the Lord Chancellor , who is paid separately. Some ministers may be designated as also attending Cabinet, like the Attorney General , as "...it has been considered more appropriate, in recent times at any rate, that the independence and detachment of his office should not be blurred by his inclusion in
3102-475: The Department for Education came to an end when he was dismissed as Secretary of State for Education and replaced by former Treasury Minister Nicky Morgan in a wide-ranging cabinet reshuffle . Gove was moved to the post of Government chief whip , which was portrayed as a demotion by his detractors; Prime Minister Cameron denied this was the case. Gove told BBC News that he had mixed emotions about starting
3196-521: The English government for the monarch. Despite primary accountability to the monarch, these ministries, having a group of ministers running the country, served as a predecessor of the modern perspective of cabinet. After the ministry of Lord Stanhope and Lord Sunderland collapsed, Sir Robert Walpole rose to power as First Lord of the Treasury . Since the reign of King George I the Cabinet has been
3290-672: The Freedom of Information Act. In September 2011, the Financial Times reported that Gove had used an undisclosed private email account—called "Mrs Blurt"—to discuss government business with advisers. In March 2012 the Information Commissioner ruled that because emails the Financial Times had requested contained public information they could be the subject of a freedom of information request and ordered
3384-689: The Government of the day to account is often cited by the UK media as a justification for the vigour with which they question and challenge the Government. The classic view of Cabinet Government was laid out by Walter Bagehot in The English Constitution (1867) in which he described the prime minister as the primus-inter-pares (" first among equals "). The view was questioned by Richard Crossman in The Myths of Cabinet Government (1972) and by Tony Benn . They were both members of
3478-454: The House of Commons or the House of Lords, although this convention has been broken in the past for short periods. Patrick Gordon Walker is perhaps the most notable exception: he was appointed to the Cabinet despite losing his seat in the 1964 general election , and resigned from Cabinet after running and losing in a by-election in January 1965. Sometimes, when a minister from neither House
3572-561: The Labour governments of the 1960s and thought that the position of the prime minister had acquired more power so that prime ministerial government was a more apt description. Crossman stated that the increase in the power of the prime minister resulted from power of centralised political parties, the development of a unified civil service, and the growth of the prime minister's private office and Cabinet secretariat . Graham Allen (a government whip during Tony Blair's first government) makes
3666-546: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, was created in 2005, on the transfer of several functions from the deputy prime minister himself. Prime Minister Boris Johnson renamed the position Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and gave the secretary and the department responsibility for carrying out the promise in the 2019 Conservative Party manifesto of " levelling up ". The department
3760-527: The Peterborough column of The Daily Telegraph , after passing an interview with Max Hastings . Struggling to maintain his career in London, he moved back to Aberdeen and became a trainee reporter at The Press and Journal , where he spent several months on strike in the 1989–1990 dispute over union recognition and representation. From 1990 to 1991, he worked as a reporter for Scottish Television , with
3854-794: The Right , and a highly critical study of the Northern Ireland peace process , The Price of Peace , where he compared the Good Friday Agreement to appeasement of the Nazis in the 1930s. During his period at The Times he also broadcast regularly, on programmes including Any Questions? , The Week in Westminster , The Book Quiz , Moral Maze and Newsnight Review (all on the BBC). Gove co-founded Policy Exchange ,
Michael Gove - Misplaced Pages Continue
3948-661: The United Kingdom is the senior decision-making body of the Government of the United Kingdom . A committee of the Privy Council , it is chaired by the Prime Minister and its members include Secretaries of State and senior Ministers of State . Members of the Cabinet are appointed by the Prime Minister and are by convention chosen from members of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom ,
4042-570: The United States , Gove's interview and consequent defence of it was seen as praising the President-elect unduly. At the snap 2017 general election , Gove was again re-elected, increasing his majority to 24,943 and increasing his vote share to 64.2%. Following the election, Gove was promoted to Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by May during a reshuffle. Gove said he "was quite surprised" to be asked to join
4136-449: The age of six years, children of low ability from affluent homes were still out-performing brighter children from poorer backgrounds. At a House of Commons Education Select Committee he said that this separation of achievement grew larger throughout pupils' school careers, stating, "In effect, rich thick kids do better than poor clever children when they arrive at school [and] the situation as they go through gets worse". Gove's second home
4230-432: The beads. The reasoning behind the ban was to stop the beads harming marine life. In July 2017, Gove announced that a fuel combustion vehicle ban will be put into place due to air pollution . He said that the ban would take effect by 2040 and end the sales of new fuel combustion cars, trucks, vans, and buses that have petrol and diesel engines in the UK. The ban does not include plug-in hybrid vehicles . Gove introduced
4324-401: The cabinet has been gradually reduced over the last several decades, with some claiming its role has been usurped by a "prime ministerial" government. In the modern political era, the prime minister releases information concerning the ministerial ranking in the form of a list detailing the seniority of all Cabinet ministers. The centralisation of the Cabinet in the early 20th century enhanced
4418-432: The cards and we can choose the path we want." When in an interview it was claimed that there was no expert opinion to support this, Gove remarked that "the people of this country have had enough of experts from organisations with acronyms saying they know what is best and getting it consistently wrong." However, interviewer Faisal Islam interrupted Gove after the word "experts", causing some sources to report that he had made
4512-652: The case in The Last Prime Minister: Being Honest About the UK Presidency (2003) that the office of prime minister has presidential powers, as did Michael Foley in The British Presidency (2000). However, the power that a prime minister has over his or her cabinet colleagues is directly proportional to the amount of support that they have with their political parties and this is often related to whether
4606-509: The crime of animal cruelty increased, as did protection for animals used by Government services, such as police dogs and horses. One of the "toughest worldwide bans" on ivory trade was also introduced in 2018. May offered Gove the post of secretary of state for exiting the European Union after Dominic Raab 's resignation over the Brexit withdrawal agreement in November 2018. Gove rejected
4700-480: The custom of meeting on a Thursday, after the appointment of Gordon Brown , the meeting day was switched to Tuesday. However, when David Cameron became prime minister, he held his cabinet meetings on Thursdays again. Upon Theresa May's tenure, she switched the cabinet meetings back to Tuesday. The length of meetings varies according to the style of the Prime Minister and political conditions, but modern meetings can be as short as 30 minutes. Ministers are bound by
4794-583: The environment. At the 2010 general election, Gove was re-elected, winning an increased majority of 17,289 and with an increased vote share of 57.6%. With the formation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government following the hung parliament after the 2010 general election, Gove became Secretary of State for Education . His first moves included reorganising his department , announcing plans to allow schools rated as Outstanding by Ofsted to become academies , and cutting
SECTION 50
#17327682612944888-475: The fact that the next prime minister would be female. He also encouraged a "civilised, inclusive, positive and optimistic debate". On 14 July 2016, Gove was dismissed by the prime minister, Theresa May. According to Jon Craig of Sky News , Gove was told to "go and learn about loyalty on the backbenches" in a two-minute meeting with May. In the aftermath of the EU referendum, Gove was accused by Nick Clegg of being
4982-437: The figure was robust and it was up to the Government to decide how to spend it. In his capacity as a writer for The Times , Gove gave the first British post-election interview to Donald Trump in January 2017, along with Kai Diekmann from Bild , making him the second British politician to meet Trump as President-elect of the United States after Nigel Farage . Despite preferring Hillary Clinton to Trump as President of
5076-425: The formation of the majority Cameron government , Gove was promoted to Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor . As the co-convenor of Vote Leave , Gove was seen, along with fellow Conservative MP Boris Johnson, as one of the most prominent figures of the 2016 referendum on EU membership . He was campaign manager for Johnson in the 2016 Conservative Party leadership election but withdrew his support on
5170-415: The information requested by the paper to be disclosed. It was also alleged by the Financial Times that Gove and his advisors had destroyed email correspondence in order to avoid freedom of information requests. The allegation was denied by Gove's department, which stated that deleting email was simply part of good computer housekeeping. In June 2012, Michael Portillo backed Gove to be a serious contender in
5264-479: The leadership. I want there to be an open and positive debate about the path the country will now take. Whatever the verdict of that debate I will respect it. In the next few days I will lay out my plan for the United Kingdom which I hope can provide unity and change." By 5 July 2016, Gove was in third place in the leadership election, behind May and Andrea Leadsom ; the latter had gained an endorsement from Johnson. Some political analysts predicted that Gove might quit
5358-580: The media, and was made clear in the Butler Review , where Blair's style of "sofa government" was censured. The combined effect of the prime minister's ability to control Cabinet by circumventing effective discussion in Cabinet and the executive's ability to dominate parliamentary proceedings places the British prime minister in a position of great power, that has been likened to an elective dictatorship (a phrase coined by Quinton Hogg, Lord Hailsham in 1976). The relative inability of Parliament to hold
5452-476: The morning Johnson was due to declare and announced his own candidacy, finishing behind Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom . Upon the appointment of May as prime minister, Gove was dismissed from the Cabinet but joined the second May government as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs following the 2017 general election . In his second leadership bid, in 2019, Gove finished behind Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt . Following Johnson's victory, Gove
5546-448: The new role, saying it was a privilege to become Chief Whip but that leaving the Department for Education was "a wrench". The position came with a £30,000 pay cut, and a specific media role saw Gove on television and radio "more than a traditional Chief Whip would be". He missed his first House of Commons vote in the new role, as explained by Shadow Commons Leader Angela Eagle ; "Gove not only lost his first vote but managed to get stuck in
5640-534: The news of the 1995 Conservative Party leadership election thanks to his connections with the upper echelons of the party. Gove was a member of the winning team in Grampian Television's quiz show Top Club , and played the school chaplain in the 1994 family comedy A Feast at Midnight . In January 1996 he joined The Times as a leader writer and assumed posts as its comment editor, news editor, assistant editor and Saturday editor. He also wrote
5734-414: The non-standardised spelling of the day, it is often hard to distinguish whether "council" or "counsel" is meant. The OED credits Francis Bacon in his Essays (1605) with the first use of "Cabinet council", where it is described as a foreign habit, of which he disapproves: "For which inconveniences, the doctrine of Italy, and practice of France, in some kings' times, hath introduced cabinet counsels;
SECTION 60
#17327682612945828-703: The offer after May told him that there was "no chance" of trying to renegotiate the agreement. Cabinet of the United Kingdom King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee The Cabinet of
5922-536: The offices of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland , Scotland, and Wales into one Secretary of State for the Union, in a department into which Rodney Brazier has suggested adding a minister of state for England with responsibility for English local government . Most cabinet meetings take place in the Cabinet Room of 10 Downing Street ; however, they have been known to take place in other places. Despite
6016-573: The party considers them to be an electoral asset or liability. Also when a party is divided into factions a prime minister may be forced to include other powerful party members in the Cabinet for party political cohesion. The Prime Minister's personal power is also curtailed if their party is in a power-sharing arrangement, or a formal coalition with another party (as happened in the coalition government of 2010 to 2015). Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities The secretary of state for housing, communities and local government
6110-432: The party for the 1983 general election . Outside of school, he spent time as a Sunday school teacher at Causewayend Church. As he entered sixth year he had to apply for a scholarship as his family fell on difficult economic circumstances. He passed the scholarship exam and served as a school prefect in his final two years. From 1985 to 1988 he studied English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford , during which time he joined
6204-539: The previous Labour government's Building Schools for the Future programme, reformed A-Level and GCSE qualifications in favour of final examinations , and responded to the Trojan Horse scandal . Four teachers unions passed motions of no confidence in his policies at their 2013 conferences. In the 2014 cabinet reshuffle , he was moved to the post of Government Chief Whip . Following the 2015 general election and
6298-462: The previous government's school-building programme. He apologised, however, when the list of terminated school-building projects he had released was found to be inaccurate; the list was reannounced several times before it was finally accurately published. In July 2010, Gove said that Labour had failed in their attempt to break the link between social class and school achievement despite spending billions of pounds: quoting research, he indicated that by
6392-439: The prime minister, whose originally unpaid office as such was traditionally described as merely primus inter pares (first among equals), but today the prime minister is the preeminent head of government , with the effective power to appoint and dismiss Cabinet ministers and to control the Cabinet's agenda. The extent to which the Government is collegial varies with political conditions and individual personalities. The Cabinet
6486-409: The principal executive group of British government. Both he and George II made use of the system, as both were not native English speakers, unfamiliar with British politics, and thus relied heavily on selected groups of advisers. The term "minister" came into being since the royal officers "ministered" to the sovereign. The name and institution have been adopted by most English-speaking countries, and
6580-490: The race if he was unable to beat Leadsom in the first round of voting. Later that day, it was announced that May had won the first round of voting, with support from 165 MPs, while Andrea Leadsom received 66 votes and Gove trailed with 48. Gove was eliminated in the second ballot after receiving 46 votes, compared to 199 for May and 84 for Leadsom. He subsequently told the media that he was "naturally disappointed" and described his two opponents as "formidable politicians", welcoming
6674-410: The role he advocated the introduction of a Swedish-style education voucher system, whereby parents would choose where their child would be educated, with the state paying what they would have cost in a state school . He also advocated Swedish-style free schools , to be managed by parents and funded by the state, with the possibility that such schools would be allowed to be run on a for-profit model. Gove
6768-532: The role of non-executive director at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as Goldsmith had previously donated cash to Gove's Surrey Heath constituency. Concerns were also raised about the selection process for the job, which was overseen by Sir Ian Cheshire , the chairman of Goldsmith's investment firm, Menhaden Capital Management. An important aspect of Gove's tenure was the introduction of laws concerning animal welfare . Maximum sentences for
6862-553: The source of a claim by The Sun that Queen Elizabeth II made comments supportive of Brexit in a private lunch at Windsor Castle . Clegg told a BBC documentary that Gove "obviously communicated it – well, I know he did". The Sun said it had "multiple sources" and was confident its report was true. In October 2016, Gove was elected to the Exiting the European Union Select Committee . That month, he
6956-405: The toilet in the wrong lobby". Gove remained in the post of chief whip until May 2015, when the role was taken over by Mark Harper . At the 2015 general election , Gove was again re-elected, increasing his majority to 24,804 and increasing his vote share to 59.9%. Following the election, Cameron promoted Gove as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor in his newly formed Cabinet. He
7050-797: The war." This view has been contradicted by Vernon Bogdanor , a British constitutional expert, who claims that "the Cabinet has, in fact, been strengthened by the decline in full meetings, as it allows more matters to be transferred to cabinet committees. Thus, business is done more efficiently." Most prime ministers have had a so-called "kitchen cabinet" consisting of their own trusted advisers who may be Cabinet members but are often non-cabinet trusted personal advisers on their own staff. In recent governments, generally from Margaret Thatcher , and especially in that of Tony Blair , it has been reported that many or even all major decisions have been made before cabinet meetings. This suggestion has been made by former ministers including Clare Short and Chris Smith , in
7144-659: The war: the 1926 general strike ; the Great Depression of 1929–32; the rise of Bolshevism after 1917 and fascism after 1922; the Spanish Civil War 1936 onwards; the invasion of Abyssinia 1936; the League of Nations Crisis which followed; and the re-armament and resurgence of Germany from 1933, leading into the Second World War . The Prime Minister decides the membership and attendees of
7238-455: Was Member of Parliament (MP) for Surrey Heath from 2005 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party , Gove twice ran to become Leader of the Conservative Party , in 2016 and 2019, finishing in third place on both occasions. He has been editor of The Spectator since October 2024. Born in Aberdeen , Gove was in care until being adopted aged four months old, after which he was raised in
7332-509: Was "quite the most brilliant extempore speaker of his generation". Gove was elected as Oxford Union President a year after Johnson. He graduated with an upper second class bachelor's degree. After university, when applying for a job at the Conservative Research Department , Gove was told he was "insufficiently political" and "insufficiently Conservative", so he turned to journalism. He first found employment on
7426-667: Was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster with responsibility for no-deal Brexit preparations. He took on the additional role of Minister for the Cabinet Office in the 2020 cabinet reshuffle and was responsible for coordinating the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic . After the 2021 cabinet reshuffle , he served as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations until telling Johnson to resign during
7520-524: Was changed to Michael Andrew Gove. His adoptive father, Ernest, ran a fish processing business and his adoptive mother, Christine, was a lab assistant at the University of Aberdeen , later working at the Aberdeen School for the Deaf. Gove, his parents, and his adoptive sister Angela Christine lived in a small property in the Kittybrewster area of Aberdeen, before relocating to Rosehill Drive. He
7614-482: Was created in 2006 by then British prime minister Tony Blair to replace John Prescott 's Office of the Deputy Prime Minister , which had taken on the local government and regions portfolios from the defunct Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions in 2002. The secretary of state took over the responsibilities of the minister of state for communities and local government . This post, within
7708-470: Was educated at two state schools (Sunnybank Primary School and Kittybrewster Primary School), and later, on the recommendation of his primary school teacher, he sat and passed the entrance exam for the independent Robert Gordon's College . In October 2012, he wrote an apology letter to his former French teacher for misbehaving in class. Gove joined the Labour Party in 1983 and campaigned on behalf of
7802-489: Was in fact a 23-year-old cookery demonstrator. Gove regarded Edinburgh as his birthplace until it was revealed in a biography in 2019 that he was born in a maternity hospital in Fonthill Road, Aberdeen . Logan was put into care soon after he was born. At the age of four months he was adopted by a couple in Aberdeen, Ernest and Christine Gove, by whom he was brought up. After he joined the Gove family, Logan's name
7896-574: Was involved in founding the right-leaning magazine Standpoint , to which he has occasionally contributed. He contracted H1N1 swine flu during the 2009 influenza pandemic . In January 2010, he gave up his column for The Times , in keeping with a policy governing Shadow Cabinet activity laid down by David Cameron at that time. Prior to the 2010 general election , most of his questions in Commons debates concerned children, schools and families, education, local government, Council Tax , foreign affairs and
7990-664: Was moving between homes, on one occasion he stayed at the Pennyhill Park Hotel in Bagshot , Surrey , following a constituency engagement, charging the taxpayer more than £500 per night's stay. Gove won the "Rising Star Award" at the February 2006 Channel 4 political awards. On 2 July 2007, he was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (a newly created department set up by Gordon Brown ), shadowing Ed Balls . In
8084-630: Was not a candidate, having said in the past that he had no interest in becoming prime minister. Instead, he was seen as a strong, highly influential supporter of Johnson for that role. In a move that surprised most political analysts, Gove withdrew his support for Johnson on 30 June 2016, hours before the deadline, without any previous notice to Johnson and announced his own candidacy in the leadership election . Subsequently, Johnson declined to run. The Telegraph wrote in an opinion piece that Gove's actions in undermining Johnson's leadership aspirations constituted "the most spectacular political assassination in
8178-574: Was not in his constituency, but in Elstead , in the South West Surrey constituency. Gove sold the house and began to commute to his constituency. During the 2010 Conservative Party Conference, Gove announced that the primary and secondary-school national curricula for England would be restructured, and that study of authors such as Byron , Keats , Jane Austen , Dickens and Thomas Hardy would be reinstated in English lessons as part of
8272-521: Was praised in December 2015 for scrapping the courts fee introduced by his predecessor, Chris Grayling . The fee had been heavily criticised for, among other things, causing innocent people to plead guilty out of financial concerns. Gove removed the 12-book limit on prison books introduced by Grayling, arguing that books increased literacy and numeracy, skills needed for making prisoners a "potential asset to society". The move, effective from September 2015,
8366-401: Was published in 2006. In 2005 he was appointed Shadow Minister for Housing and Planning . During his time as an MP, as well as his column for The Times he also wrote columns for Building magazine and the newspaper Scotland on Sunday . He made his maiden speech on 7 June 2005, focusing on national security . Gove was seen as part of an influential set of Conservatives referred to as
8460-452: Was re-hired by The Times as a weekly columnist and book reviewer. As well as attending meetings of the newspaper's politics team, Gove was dispatched to the United States to report on campaign rallies in the upcoming presidential election . In December 2016, Gove defended a Vote Leave claim that an additional £350 million a week could be spent on the NHS when Britain left the EU. Gove said
8554-459: Was removed from the position of justice secretary by the new prime minister, Theresa May . Gove was a prominent figure in the campaign for Britain to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum and described his decision to take that side as "the most difficult decision of my political life". He and his family spent Christmas with the Camerons at Chequers where, according to Craig Oliver , Cameron
8648-540: Was the subject of repeated criticism for alleged attempts to avoid the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act . The criticism surrounded Gove's use of various private email accounts to send emails that allegedly related to his departmental responsibilities. The allegations suggested that Gove and his advisers believed they could avoid their correspondence being subject to freedom of information requests, as they believed that their private email accounts were not subject to
8742-480: Was under the impression that Gove would support remaining in the EU. Despite this, Gove decided to support the Leave campaign. At the beginning of March 2016, he was appointed co-convenor of Vote Leave , with Labour MP Gisela Stuart , and given responsibility for chairing the campaign committee. He argued Britain would be "freer, fairer and better off" for leaving, and that "[t]he day after we vote to leave, we hold all
8836-577: Was welcomed by Frances Cook of the Howard League for Penal Reform . Gove was also praised for his prominent role in scrapping a British bid for a Saudi prison contract. Within three months of his taking office, the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) voted to stop taking new work in protest at Gove's insistence that they work for lower fees. The CBA subsequently praised his "courage" in reversing the proposed cuts. On 14 July 2016 Gove
#293706