On the edge of his seat

Michael Gove’s plans for education don’t allow for a moment’s pause

When I walk into his office on the seventh floor of the Department for Education, Michael Gove is sitting behind his desk with his jacket off. He is hunched over, writing a note on House of Commons letterhead. His left arm is pushed right out across the desk and the lines on his forehead are showing as he rereads what he’s put down so far. Even as a civil servant and I advance towards him, Gove’s concentration does not break. Eventually, the civil servant asks loudly, ‘Have you met the Secretary of State before?’

At this, Gove looks up, sees the people in the room and springs out of his chair. He prides himself on his good manners, has an animated grin on his face almost instantly and launches into a set of conversational pleasantries.

We move over to a small coffee table in the corner of his large, light office with a view across the rooftops of Westminster to the Houses of Parliament.