Today Michael Gove admitted that his decision not to support Boris Johnson in the 2016 Tory leadership race had almost cost him his career. He likened his decision of running to a bomb going off in one of his hands.
Five years ago, Westminster was stunned when the current Housing Secretary announced a leadership challenge to replace David Cameron. While running Boris Johnson’s campaign for No10, Johnson shocked Westminster.
Both men had worked together on the Vote Leave campaign, which helped win the EU referendum for EU-leaning citizens. This was the culmination of a long-standing rivalry between the men dating back to their university days.
Today, Mr Gove admitted that it was ‘political suicide” to run against the current PM.
Today, Mr Gove admits that it was ‘political suicide” to run against the current PM five year ago.
Both men had worked side by side on the Vote Leave campaign, which helped win the EU referendum for Brexiteers
After the former Justice Secretary had stabbed his fellow Brexit champion in back, Mr Johnson’s (pictured today), allies warned Gove that there was a “deep pit in Hell” waiting for him.
He made the comment in a Commons session on planning reforms, which were being reviewed amid cricitism by Tory backbenchers.
Shadow planning minister Ruth Cadbury said she had not ‘seen (him) torpedo something so effectively since he sunk the Prime Minister’s leadership in 2016’.
Mr Gove responded with a joke: “Well, I’m thankful to (her) that she took me back to the halcyon times of 2016. It wasn’t so much a torpedo being thrown, but rather an unexploded bomb going off inside my own hands.
“But, as Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former member of Kensington and Chelsea, pointed out: One of the best things about political suicide is that you will always regret it.
After the former Justice Secretary had stabbed Mr Johnson in the back and said he wasn’t up for being Prime Minister, Johnson’s friends warned that Gove was in a ‘deep pit of Hell’.
As he announced his own bid to become the next Downing Street Mayor, Mr Gove gave a harsh verdict on Mr Johnson’s abilities and asked whether his heart and soul were in taking the UK from the EU.
Gove praised his frenemy, but he said that he had enjoyed working with him during the referendum campaign. He stated, however, that he had realized in the past few days that Boris wasn’t capable building that team or providing that unity.
“And so, I reluctantly but firmly came to the conclusion that, as someone who had argued that we should leave Europe from the beginning and as someone who wanted to ensure that a bold and positive vision for our future was realized, that I had got to lead the Conservative party.”
They faced off again in 2019, when the two ran for Mrs May’s position. Johnson won this time, but he kept his rival in government, making him Environment Secretary and Chancellor of Lancaster. At the last reshuffle of Housing, he was replaced by Robert Kenrick. He also had additional powers to oversee the levelling-up agenda.