Third-place Gove insists: I can still win the fight
MICHAEL Gove last night brushed aside controversy over his knifing of Boris Johnson, and insisted he could still win the Tory leadership.
The Westminster Justice Secretary came third in yesterday’s ballot with 48 votes – miles behind Theresa May on 165, but within sight of Brexit rival Andrea Leadsom on 66.
A campaign source said: ‘We’re in business. As memory of the events with Boris starts to fade, people will start to focus on who they want to be prime minister – who has got the experience and the vision. That means Michael.’
But the decision of Stephen Crabb to pull out of the race last night means Mr Gove now has just 36 hours to gather the support needed to overhaul Mrs Leadsom.
Mr Gove, who angered many Tory MPs with his betrayal of Mr Johnson, last night insisted he could still win.
He contrasted his 20-year opposition to Britain’s membership of the EU with the record of Mrs Leadsom, who faced allegations of hypocrisy at the weekend after it emerged she warned just three years ago that leaving the EU would be ‘a disaster’.
Edinburgh-born Mr Gove, who repeatedly said he would never stand to be prime minister before his Uturn last week, acknowledged Mrs May was a ‘formidable rival’.
But he added: ‘I am delighted by the support I have received from colleagues. It reflects the optimistic message that I’ve been putting forward.
‘Now that Britain has voted to leave, I think the country deserves to have a leader who believes in Britain outside the European Union and who also has experience at the highest level of government.
‘I hope that in the days to come, I’ll be able to convince my colleagues that I should be one of the candidates that Conservative Party members can choose from. I think they should have a choice between two candidates of experience, two candidates who have delivered in government departments.’
Speaking in the immediate aftermath of last night’s vote, Mr Gove’s supporters said they had high hopes of picking up votes from the supporters of both Liam Fox and Stephen Crabb.
Westminster Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, who is backing Mr Gove, said he had exceeded expectations in the first round.
‘It’s been a difficult week, but to get 48 colleagues is more than anyone was predicting,’ she said. ‘He can absolutely overhaul Andrea from here.’
UK Justice Minister Dominic Raab, a Gove supporter, said: ‘The longer this contest goes, the more support we will build. We’re the underdog in the race fighting for the underdog in society.’
Asked if Mr Gove could catch Mrs Leadsom, he said: ‘Catch Theresa May, that’s what we’re going to do.’
Mr Gove later suffered a double blow when both Dr Fox and Mr Crabb declared they will now support Mrs May.
He had originally planned to back Mr Johnson’s campaign after the pair succeeded in leading Britain out of the EU.
But in a dramatic move he withdrew his support just two hours before Mr Johnson was due to launch, saying he no longer believed the former London mayor was fit to be PM.
In a savage assessment, Mr Johnson’s campaign manager Ben Wallace said this week: ‘Michael seems to have an emotional need to gossip, particularly when drink is taken, as it all too often seemed to be.’
‘We’re the underdog’