Michael Gove
‘Politics exacts a very high price’: an interview with Michael Gove
Michael Gove on levelling up, Plan B and the price of politics
Gove gets into gear
‘This government ends if the red wall reverts back to type and we lose 45 seats then end up in…
How the Tories can 'level up' without annoying Nimbys
Have the Conservatives lost their nerve on planning reform? Not quite, but a couple of small interventions at the Conservative…
Even Tories should be wary of Gove's election stitch-up
Conservative politicians appear willing to revolt on every issue: tax rises, China, lockdowns. But on the accumulation of power by…
Oxford has more to be ashamed of than Gove
Being the most prestigious university in the English-speaking world comes with its drawbacks. While the rolls of alumni are littered…
Why Gove’s night on the dance floor is good news
I was pleased to see pictures of Michael Gove at a nightclub in Aberdeen last weekend. According to press reports,…
The Prince Harryfication of Boris Johnson
The acting one sees upon the stage doesn’t show how human beings actually comport themselves in crises, but simply how…
Ever weaker Union: The Tories lack a constitutional theory
No doubt Michael Gove is satisfied with how his latest comments on Scottish independence have gone down. The Chancellor of…
Scrapping English votes for English laws could spell trouble
It has been almost 45 years since Tam Dalyell first asked the West Lothian Question. It is a damning indictment…
A politician's guide to non-denial denials
Michael Gove was deployed to the Commons on Monday afternoon to answers questions on the ministerial code, an hour-long appearance…
Gove hints at vaccine passport app
It wasn’t so long ago that ministers were lining up on broadcast to insists vaccine passports were out of the…
Petronella Wyatt: I’m not surprised Michael Gove is a lockdown fanatic
What this government needs is a good dose of the London mob, which at its height in the 18th century…
Has Spitting Image ever been funny?
Thank you, Spitting Image, for the nostalgia trip! Your new series on BritBox has rekindled with almost Proustian fidelity those…
I admit it: I was wrong to back Boris
A friend emailed me earlier this week in despair about the Prime Minister. ‘Boris reminds me of a hereditary king…
The confusion in government goes beyond face masks
When Michael Gove delivered the Ditchley Annual Lecture last month he spoke about why citizens feel that the political system…
It’s not only Cummings whose fate is at stake
When the cabinet met by conference call on Monday, three ministers spoke in support of Dominic Cummings: Jacob Rees-Mogg, Suella…
The British state needs rewiring
‘Covid-19 has been perhaps the biggest test of governments worldwide since the 1940s,’ declares the government’s command paper on the…
The ridiculousness of the bookshelf police
‘People want to know why Michael Gove owns “racist” and “anti-Semitic” books’, reports the Independent’s website. By ‘people’ it actually…
What have you changed your mind about? A Spectator Christmas survey
Grayson Perry In 1992 I created a graphic novel called Cycle of Violence. Reading it now, the initially striking thing…
Revealed: David Cameron’s ‘Gove protocol’
When Michael Gove was welcomed back into government this year and appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, some wondered…
‘Cameron was a bloody good prime minister’: Michael Gove interviewed
Michael Gove stands in front of an empty throne in the magnificent Cabinet Office room. George III was the last…
From the NHS to Bayreuth: Norman Lebrecht talks to midwife-turned-opera singer Catherine Foster
Every summer for the past six years, Bayreuth has risen to its feet to acclaim an English Brünnhilde. Catherine Foster,…
Boris’s big mistake? Agreeing to the BBC debate
Boris and his team made a mistake by agreeing to take part in Tuesday’s BBC leadership debate. In such decisions,…
The Boris campaign get the leadership final they hoped for
There will be sighs of relief in the Boris Johnson camp this evening after Jeremy Hunt won the second spot…
Portrait of the week: Gove confesses, Brexit party falters and the BBC makes pensioners pay
Home Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, a candidate for the Conservative leadership, admitted he had used cocaine several times 20…
