Observer quizzes Cabinet Minister

When it was put to Mr Gove that he is somewhat of a ‘Marmite’ figure, he quipped: “I think people love Marmite.”

He was also quizzed on the controversy during Tuesday evening’s televised debate between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. The Conservatives were accused of misleading the public after they rebranded their official Twitter account as ‘FactcheckUK’.

Explaining the move, Mr Gove said: “We wanted to make sure that during the debate any of the things that Jeremy Corbyn said that were untrue, whether they were deliberate or accidental, were corrected and the Twitter account was one that people will only have been following if they had already been following the Conservative Party.

“It had a direct link to the Conservative Party’s website, it was clear that it was a Conservative Party account so you wouldn’t stumble across it if you weren’t already following the Conservative Party’s feed. But more than that, it was something that was there which no one has said anything that we put out wasn’t factual.”

Mr Gove was also asked about Dominic Cummings – the Prime Minister’s special adviser – who previously worked for him during his time as Secretary of State for Education.

Mr Gove indicated that he would employ Cummings again. When asked to explain his qualities, he said he had been ‘talent spotted’ by Mr Johnson. Asked whether he had spotted Mr Cummings’ talent immediately, Mr Gove went on to compare him to football manager José Mourinho. He said: “It’s like José Mourinho. He managed Chelsea and then moved to Manchester United and now Spurs. When it comes to helping with politics, he puts the ‘Special One’ into special advisor.”

Mr Gove joined Mr Kerr on the campaign trail in Stirling and Doune on Thursday afternoon.

In response to Mr Gove’s comments, the Stirling Labour Party secretary, Mark Eyre, said: “The only way to stop five more years of a Tory government that brought us the ‘rape clause,’ food banks, the bedroom tax, universal credit misery and three years of Brexit chaos is to vote Labour.

“There is no shortcut to a Labour government through the SNP. If you want a Labour government that will bring real change for the many, not the few, then you must vote Labour on December 12.”

Stephen makes sure that Stirling punches above its weight in Parliament Michael Gove