Gove row over son, 11, left at hotel as he stayed at party until 1am
MICHAEL Gove and his wife faced questions yesterday after leaving their son of 11 alone in a B&B while they went to a celebrity party for six hours.
The former justice secretary and wife Sarah Vine arranged for staff at the £250-a-night hotel to supervise their son, saying they expected to be home by 9.30pm.
But the youngster was later found wandering the corridors and asking where his parents were.
The couple are said to have not returned to the exclusive B&B on the edge of the Cotswolds until 1.30am. A concerned night porter tried to reach them but they were in a basement bar where there was no phone signal, it was reported.
The law does not specify an age when parents can leave a child on their own, but it is an offence if it places the youngster at risk.
The decision by the ex-education secretary and his wife, a Daily Mail columnist, was backed yesterday by Boris Johnson’s sister Rachel, who was at the party. She told the Andrew Marr Show ‘the only reason they left their son is because he was babysitting their two dogs … I think it’s absolutely fine’.
They left No. 38 The Park on October 15 to go to a party at its sister hotel, a Grade II-listed Georgian villa a mile away, marking the end of the Cheltenham Literary Festival. A number of stars attended.
Armando Iannucci, creator of political comedy The Thick Of It, is understood to have given a talk the next day saying he saw Mr Gove ‘busting moves’ on the dance floor.
The former Tory leadership candidate has been tipped for a return to the front benches, and has won a seat on the Brexit committee. But child protection campaigner Russ Martin said: ‘If true, one must question [his] parenting skills … How can Mr Gove be instrumental in policy development for child protection and education and make a fundamental mistake like this?’
NSPCC chief Peter Wanless said: ‘Parents need to consider whether a child would know what to do if something went wrong.’
A spokesman for the Goves said: ‘ Michael and Sarah’s son is a mature and confident secondary school pupil. He preferred to watch TV rather than go out to dinner. He was perfectly fine and staff at the 13-room hotel were happy to supervise.’ He added that the hotel would know how to get in touch ‘if anything distressing had occurred’.
A Government website quotes NSPCC guidelines that under-12s ‘are rarely mature enough to be left alone for a long period of time’.