Michael Gove has offered an inside look at how Rishi Sunak unveiled his decision to call a general election, revealing that he had to “smile” and “hope for the best” despite having doubts. Speaking at the first live show of Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction tour, Gove shared the story with Sky News political editor Beth Rigby, Labour peer Harriet Harman, and Conservative peer Ruth Davidson.
The former housing secretary explained that he was called into Sunak’s office, along with five other senior ministers, just half an hour before the full cabinet meeting. Gove recalled, “There were mounting rumours the day before, various meetings had been cancelled. I couldn’t quite believe it would be because we were going to call a general election.”
Despite Gove’s private concerns, only defence secretary Grant Shapps spoke up in the meeting, telling Sunak, “I don’t think this is a good idea.” Gove admitted he didn’t join in the objection, saying, “If a friend tells you that he’s getting married… you feel you have got to smile and hope for the best, believe it will work out.”
Gove, who served as Levelling Up secretary under Sunak before stepping down ahead of the July election, noted that in hindsight, many MPs knew they were likely to lose their seats regardless of when the election was called. He reflected, “Everyone in hindsight can say it was a mistake… but even if I disagreed that it was absolutely the optimum moment, cut the guy some slack. He’s our leader, let’s hope it works out.”
When asked who he thought should lead the party after Sunak, Gove avoided naming names but lightened the conversation by comparing several Tory figures to famous musicians. He said Tom Tugendhat would be James Blunt, James Cleverly would be Ed Sheeran, Kemi Badenoch could be either Taylor Swift or Beyoncé, and Rob Jenrick would be Stormzy.
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