‘I had to step up’

On the way to interview Michael Gove, we meet a government minister, an Old Etonian, who suggests we ask him, ‘How can anyone trust you ever again?’ Just a fortnight ago, proposing such a question would have been unthinkable: the Justice Secretary had a reputation for being one of the most consistent, decent and honourable men in the cabinet. When Gove agreed to back Boris Johnson’s leadership bid, the pair seemed a dream team. But on the morning of their campaign launch, Gove announced that Johnson was unfit for the job, so he’d stand himself instead. Then, he was knocked out by Conservative MPs who were still recovering from the drama.

‘I tried very, very hard to make it work,’ Gove insists, sitting in his Commons office as his campaign team beaver away on their laptops. ‘But I was faced with a dilemma at the eleventh hour. I could go ahead, swallow my doubts — which had built up over four or five days — and recommend that Boris should be our next prime minister.