Peter Hoskin

Gove: the Tories need to clarify what they’re all about<br />

It’s well worth reading Ben Brogan’s lively interview with Michael Gove in the Telegraph today.  On Gove’s part, there’s an explanation of the Tories’ stance on selection in schools; a series of doting compliments about David Cameron (who is, apparently, someone “you could imagine snogging like we did to True by Spandau Ballet”); and he even tips Liam Fox to become a future Tory leader.  To my mind, though, the most noteworthy passage is Gove’s response to a question about Lord Salisbury’s claim that the Tories need to present more policy details:

“The former minister ‘raises all the points we are asking ourselves,’ Mr Gove says. ‘Yes, we do need to provide more detail. We do need to clarify in the public mind and the minds of our supporters what it is all about. Lord Salisbury has a very acute political judgement as well as a sure sense of the party grassroots. There is nothing he said that David does not think or worry about.'”

This admission is striking in itself, and it chimes with what many Tory folk are saying around Westminster.  You suspect that the next few months – centring on the party conference in October – will be a concerted effort to “put flesh on the bones”.

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