Boris’s father quits his club after Gove joins
When Michael Gove was welcomed back to Cabinet last week — as the environment Secretary — there was joy in surprising quarters.
Stanley Johnson, Boris’s father and a veteran environmentalist, declared that ‘the good news is that Mr Michael Gove, a man of immense intelligence and a political heavyweight in his own right even out of office, may well be precisely the right man for this very tricky job. I welcome his appointment’.
That generosity of spirit comes as something of a shock, given the bitter aftermath of last year’s Tory leadership contest when Gove, who was Justice Secretary at the time, famously staged a coup against Boris.
At the 11th hour, he withdrew support from Boris and ran himself ( coming a poor third behind Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom).
Back then, Johnson Sr was so appalled by Gove’s behaviour that he blacklisted his application for the Beefsteak, one of London’s most exclusive gentlemen’s clubs. So has peace now broken out? Despite Stanley’s warm words, it seems not. Gove has been quietly admitted to the centuries- old Beefsteak and, as a result, Johnson Sr, who is on the club’s committee, has resigned his membership.
‘ Stanley is an honourable man and will be much missed,’ says my mole at the Beefsteak, whose members include Lord Lawson, the former Chancellor, and, of course, Boris.
When I asked Stanley about it, he said: ‘I can’t say anything about that. I’m delighted Michael Gove is the environment Secretary.’ Curiouser and curiouser!