Michael Gove

Michael Andrew Gove (; 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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''. Provided by Wikipedia