Michael Gove

Michael Andrew Gove (born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations since October 2022, having previously held both offices from September 2021 to July 2022.

Gove was born Graeme Andrew Logan on 26 August 1967.

His biological mother, whom he originally understood to have been an unmarried Edinburgh student, was in fact a 23-year-old cookery demonstrator.

Gove joined the Labour Party in 1983 and campaigned on behalf of the party for the 1983 general election.

Outside of school, he spent time as a Sunday school teacher at Causewayend Church.

As he entered sixth year he had to apply for a scholarship as his family fell on difficult economic circumstances.

He passed the scholarship exam and served as a school prefect in his final two years.

From 1985 to 1988 he read English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, during which time he joined the Conservative Party.

He became a member of the Oxford University Conservative Association and was secretary of Aberdeen South Young Conservatives.

He helped write speeches for Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet ministers, including Peter Lilley and Michael Howard.

During his first year, he met future Prime Minister Boris Johnson and ran his campaign to be President of the Oxford Union.

In an interview with Andrew Gimson, Gove remarked that at Oxford, Johnson was "quite the most brilliant extempore speaker of his generation".

He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Surrey Heath since 2005.

A member of the Conservative Party, he has also served in various Cabinet positions under Prime Ministers David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.

Elected for Surrey Heath at the 2005 general election, he was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet by Cameron in 2007 as Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.

Appointed Secretary of State for Education in the Cameron–Clegg coalition, Gove terminated the previous Labour government's Building Schools for the Future programme, reformed A-Level and GCSE qualifications in favour of final examinations, and responded to the Trojan Horse scandal.

In October 2012, he wrote an apology letter to his former French teacher for misbehaving in class.

The National Association of Head Teachers, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, the National Union of Teachers and the NASUWT passed motions of no confidence in his policies at their conferences in 2013.

In the 2014 cabinet reshuffle he was moved to the post of chief whip.

Following the 2015 general election and the formation of the majority Cameron government, Gove was promoted to Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor.

Gove has twice run to become Leader of the Conservative Party, in 2016 and 2019, finishing in third place on both occasions.

Apart from periods as a backbencher from July 2016 to June 2017 and July to October 2022, he has served continuously in the Cabinet since 2010.

Born in Aberdeen, Gove was in care until being adopted aged four months old, after which he was raised in the Kittybrewster area of the city.

He attended the independent Robert Gordon's College and studied English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.

He then began a career as a journalist at The Press and Journal before having a long tenure as a leader writer at The Times.

As the co-convenor of Vote Leave, Gove was seen, along with Johnson, a fellow Conservative MP, as one of the most prominent figures of the 2016 referendum on EU membership.

He was campaign manager for Johnson in the 2016 Conservative Party leadership election but withdrew his support on the morning Johnson was due to declare and announced his own candidacy, finishing third behind May and Andrea Leadsom.

Following May's appointment as Prime Minister, Gove was dismissed from the Cabinet but was appointed to the second May government as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs following the 2017 general election.

He launched a second Conservative leadership bid in 2019, coming third behind Johnson and Jeremy Hunt.

Upon appointment of Johnson as Prime Minister, Gove was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with responsibilities including preparations for a no-deal Brexit.

Gove regarded his birthplace as Edinburgh until it was revealed in a biography in 2019 that he was born in a maternity hospital in Fonthill Road, Aberdeen.

Logan was put into care soon after he was born.

At the age of four months he was adopted by a couple in Aberdeen, Ernest Gove and Christine Gove, by whom he was brought up.

After he joined the Gove family, Logan's name was changed to Michael Andrew Gove.

His adoptive father, Ernest, ran a fish processing business and his adoptive mother, Christine, was a lab assistant at the University of Aberdeen, before working at the Aberdeen School for the Deaf.

Gove, his parents, and his adoptive sister Angela Christine lived in a small property in the Kittybrewster area of Aberdeen, before relocating to Rosehill Drive.

He was educated at two state schools (Sunnybank Primary School and Kittybrewster Primary School), and later, on the recommendation of his primary school teacher, he sat and passed the entrance exam for the independent Robert Gordon's College.

He took on the additional role of minister for the Cabinet Office in the 2020 cabinet reshuffle.

After the 2021 cabinet reshuffle he served as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations until Gove told Johnson to resign during the July 2022 Government crisis and was dismissed by Johnson.

Under Rishi Sunak, Gove was reinstated to his previous roles of Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations.