Gove’s wife warns him about risk of backing Boris in leaked email
Sarah Vine tells husband to secure guarantees on immigration controls as the price of his support
MICHAEL GOVE’S wife warned her husband about the risks of backing Boris Johnson for the Conservative Party leadership without “specific” guarantees on immigration controls in a leaked email revealed last night.
The email, sent in error by Sarah Vine to a member of the public, urges her husband to ensure he has “leverage” before making any deal with Mr Johnson.
She reminds Mr Gove of his value to Mr Johnson, telling him that the Conservative Party membership will not have “the necessary reassurance to back Boris” in the leadership vote without his support.
Mr Johnson is today expected to be joined by Mr Gove as he launches his bid to succeed David Cameron. He is expected to say that while he is “proimmigration”, he wants to see an end to the free movement of EU citizens.
Friends said that he would set out his “positive” vision for Britain and suggest that Brexit offers people the chance to “believe in ourselves and the values of this country”. They last night insisted Mr Johnson and Mr Gove were “rock solid” and that there was “no split” between the two men.
Sources close to Mr Gove said that the leaked email represented the “personal opinion” of his wife rather than his own. In the email, which was sent on Tuesday and obtained by Sky News, Ms Vine urges her husband not to “concede any ground” to Mr Johnson in crucial meetings.
She says that Mr Gove needs to have one of his special advisers in meetings to help him “thoroughly overcome individual obstacles”, and urges him to be his “stubborn best”.
She suggests that Paul Dacre, the editor of the Daily Mail and Rupert Murdoch, the owner of The Sun and
The Times, “instinctively dislike Boris” but would back him if Mr Gove was involved in his campaign.
The Daily Telegraph understands the assurances Ms Vine was referring to relate to concern around migration controls that Mr Gove was determined to ensure would be included in a Brexit package in exchange for his support.
The email says: “One simple message: You MUST have SPECIFIC assurances from Boris OTHERWISE you cannot guarantee your support. The details can be worked out later on, but without that you have no leverage.
“Crucially, the membership will not have the necessary reassurance to back Boris, neither will Dacre/Murdoch, who instinctively dislike Boris but trust your ability enough to support a Boris/Gove ticket. Do not concede any ground. Be your stubborn best. GOOD LUCK.”
A spokesman for Mr Gove said: “We don’t comment on private email exchanges or conversations.”
A source close to Mr Gove insisted the email was Ms Vine’s opinion alone and that “obviously Boris and Michael have had many discussions about how the campaign will proceed”.
Mr Johnson has so far gathered the most support to succeed Mr Cameron, with 36 MPs backing his campaign, while Stephen Crabb has 19 and Theresa May 18.
Mr Johnson will position himself as a “unity” candidate, having won the support of ministers from the Remain campaign including Nick Boles, the busi- ness minister, and Nick Gibb, the education minister.
Other ministers backing Mr Johnson include Priti Patel, the Eurosceptic employment minister and John Hayes, a Home Office minister.
It emerged yesterday that Mr Johnson and other candidates who are not members of the Cabinet will be granted access to official civil service papers on EU negotiations.
The move is intended to put the eventual winner of the leadership contest in a position to implement their preferred vision for a post-Brexit Britain as soon as possible.
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, will launch her campaign for the Conservative Party leadership less than an
hour after Mr Johnson as she sets out her vision for “a country that works for everyone”.
Mrs May has won the support of several leading MPs from the Brexit side including Mike Penning, a Home Office minister, and David Jones, the former Wales secretary.
Gavin Williamson, the Prime Minister’s private secretary, and several Conservative whips are also backing her campaign.
Mr Crabb, the Work and Pensions Secretary, yesterday mocked Mr Johnson as he announced that he will stand for the leadership of the Conservative Party. “On the rainy rugby fields of West Wales I learnt that it’s not a question of just waiting for the ball to pop out from the back of the scrum. If you want it, you do what’s required,” he said.
Dr Liam Fox, the former defence secretary, will also launch a leadership bid today with the backing of up to 50 MPs. In an article for The
Daily Telegraph he says that Britain should leave the Single Market if free movement of EU citizens is Brussels’s price for membership.