MEMBER of Parliament and ex-Cabinet minster Michael Gove was unceremoniously sacked by Boris Johnson.
Gove has held various roles in the House of Commons over the course of his career.
Who is Michael Gove?
Michael Gove was born on August 26, 1967 and brought up in Aberdeen.
His birthname was Graeme Andrew Logan but this was changed when he was adopted at four months old.
Parents, Ernest and Christine Gove, were Labour supporters and Gove himself joined the party and campaigned for them in the 1983 general election.
In the late 80s, he went to Oxford University, reading English, and joined the Conservative Party.
During his first year, Gove met long-time ally and future Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
He helped Johnson become President of the Oxford Union, a selective club, before rising to the role himself the next year.
Upon leaving Oxford University, Gove turned to journalism, writing for local and national newspapers and appearing on radio and TV.
By 1996 he worked for The Times, writing a weekly column for the newspaper.
Nine years later he returned to politics and was elected as an MP for Surrey Heath in 2005.
Within two years he had been promoted to a member of the Shadow Cabinet, shadowing Ed Balls as Education Secretary.
He went on to become Secretary of State for Education in 2010, during the coalition government.
Continuing the Cabinet, Gove became Chief Whip in 2014 and Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Justice in 2015, before he was dismissed by Theresa May in 2016.
Following the 2017 General Election he was brought back with his appointment as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
When Boris Johnson came to power, Gove was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster but also worked on Brexit negotiations.
Johnson then boosted Gove to the Housing Secretary in the 2021 Cabinet reshuffle when the department was renamed the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Why was Michael Gove sacked?
In the great resignation crisis of July 2022, Gove was sacked by his long-time friend Boris Johnson.
Following the Chris Pincher scandal, the tide turned against Johnson as 59 ministers and Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPSs) handed in their notice.
On July 5, 2022, Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor Rishi Sunak resigned from their Cabinet roles.
In a 24-hour period, 36 MPs resigned – a historic moment in politics as it was the largest number of such resignations on record.
This opened the floodgates and pressure began to mount for Johnson to be removed from office.
Some MPs stayed in their roles but on July 6 a group of MPs urged the PM to step down.
Gove was reportedly one of these MPs, along with Priti Patel and Grant Shapps.
Later that evening, Johnson sacked Gove for alleged disloyalty.
Johnson resigned the next day.
Is Michael Gove married?
Michael Gove married Sarah Vine, a columnist for the Daily Mail, in 2001.
The pair had met a few years earlier while working together at The Times.
Vine was believed to be influential in steering her husband’s political career.
Sarah came out in favour of Leave in the UK referendum on EU membership.
After 20 years of marriage the pair split in July 2021.
A joint statement said they had agreed to go their separate ways.
In a 2022 interview, Vine said: “That’s really at the heart of why Michael and I are getting divorced. It’s not because we hate each other, it’s because I can’t look after my family and myself and be a wife of politics.”
The pair have two children together – a daughter born in 2003 named Beatrice and a son born a year later named William.
