Heard it on the Gove-Vine

Times journalist Sarah Vine has written the diary in the forthcoming edition of the Spectator. For those wondering why that caught Mr Steerpike’s eye, Vine is the wife of Education Secretary Michael Gove. Here is what Question Time looks to a participant’s spouse:

‘I was too chicken to watch. I can watch him do almost anything — select committees, speeches at conference, Leveson, the Gay Gordons — but for some reason Question Time gives me the willies. My friend Tania, who normally watches for me and emails as the action unfolds, was not answering her phone, so had to rely on Twitter for updates. Soon, Gove was trending — but it was not entirely clear why. All the people who hate him hated him more and all the people who love him loved him more. It was hopeless. In the end I had to ring him up myself and ask him. He was just getting the train home.