James Forsyth James Forsyth

Michael Gove, Boris Johnson and the return of Tory wars

If the Tories can’t stop squabbling among themselves, they are doomed to election defeat

[Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images]

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[/audioplayer]From the moment he took his job, Michael Gove knew that he would make energetic and determined enemies. The teachers’ unions, local councillors and even his own department all stood to lose from his reforms — and all could be expected to resist them. What the Education Secretary did not expect was hostile fire from those who should be his friends.

At the start of the coalition, Gove and Nick Clegg were allies. With a moral passion rarely seen in British politics, they used to argue that social mobility should be the centrepiece of the government’s reform agenda. Two years ago, when many Tories were already cooling on coalition, Gove even requested that the Liberal Democrat David Laws be made a minister at his department. But this alliance is over. For the past few months, Lib Dem attacks on Gove have been as regular as England batting collapses. Sources close to Clegg furiously deny that this approach is driven by polling data demonstrating Gove’s unpopularity with teachers. But whatever the cause, Gove’s coalition partners are now throwing up obstacles in his way.

More puzzling, though, is a Tory whispering campaign against Gove that has gathered pace in recent days. At first glance it is baffling: why would the Tories wish to attack one of their most successful and effective ministers? And one of the few giving the party a moral purpose? One anti-Gove group is made up of Tory ministers and MPs resentful of his proximity to Cameron, his influence and his dual-income household. Gove is married to Sarah Vine, the Daily Mail’s star columnist, who is a godmother to Cameron’s daughter Florence. Such cosiness enrages certain Tories, resentful of Cameron’s way of governing through his best friends.

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