Gove is influential, but how many strings can he pull?
It is arguably no coincidence that Michael Gove is at the centre of a Cabinet split over the so-called “rule of six”. As a member of Downing Street’s most powerful committees on both Covid and Brexit, the Cabinet Office minister is at the centre of pretty much everything these days.
Which may explain why the Tory tea room is awash with whispers that Boris Johnson’s former leadership rival is the one “really” running the country behind the scenes.
The influence of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster was plain to see on Tuesday when the coronavirus strategy committee was discussing the contentious ban of social gatherings of seven or more people.
According to insiders, almost all members of the committee – including Rishi Sunak, Dominic Raab and Priti Patel – were opposed to the move and argued in favour of a “rule of eight”.
While reports have suggested that “doveish” Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, was the only minister in favour of the stricter rule, he seems to have found a collaborator in Mr Gove.
Despite his own reservations, Mr Johnson sided with Messrs Hancock and Gove. In truth, he may also have been swayed by the presence of Prof Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific Adviser.
But there is no doubt the Prime Minister is becoming increasingly reliant on his former fellow Vote Leave frontman. Indeed, so central has Mr Gove become to the trade talks that it was he who was entrusted with the delicate task of trying to smooth things over with the EU on Thursday.
As the chairman of the UK-EU joint committee, he held an emergency meeting with his Brussels counterpart Maroš Šefčovič, vice-president of the European Commission, in the face of a growing deadlock between the sides.
As the UK was threatened with a lawsuit over its plan to override parts of the Withdrawal Agreement, Mr Gove insisted it had no intention of backing down, and appeared fully in command as he said: “I made it perfectly clear to Maroš Šefčovič that we would not be withdrawing this legislation. He understood that, of course, he regretted it.”
EU sources then accused Mr Gove of failing to act like the “usual gentleman” by refusing to use “diplomatic language”, although this was denied by others. Allies poured cold water on the notion that Mr Gove is acting as the chief executive to Mr Johnson’s chairman, saying: “The PM is firmly in charge.”
Yet while there may be more senior ministers in cabinet – including the Chancellor and Mr Raab as First Secretary – Conservative MPS remain convinced that the former chief whip is still the one pulling the strings.
Many backbenchers remain suspicious of his closeness to Dominic Cummings, who was his special adviser at the Department for Education from 2011-14. The pair are so tight that they apparently have Russian nicknames for each other. “Dom calls him Mikhail and Michael calls him Dominik or similar,” said one insider. “They’re thick as thieves.”
Which may explain why there is so much briefing against them. Some Tories have even suggested they influenced the disastrous decision of Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, to go with Ofqual’s algorithm to determine GCSE grades, rather than teachers’ predictions, “to spite the unions”. A number have also accused Mr Gove of briefing against Mr Sunak over tax rises because the popular Chancellor, tipped as a future PM, is “his biggest threat”.
All such claims remain completely unsubstantiated. But there is no doubt Tory Brexiteers hold a grudge against Mr Cummings for winding up Vote Leave, of which he was campaign director, after the referendum to focus on Mr Gove’s leadership bid, which saw him knife Mr Johnson in the back. Some Leavers have never forgiven him – not least because it heralded Theresa May and the “remainiac” Withdrawal Agreement her successors are now desperately trying to wriggle out of.
Even those within Cabinet have privately commented on Mr Gove’s “subtle dominance”. When they served together under Mrs May, Ms Patel joked that colleagues would “look to Michael for intellectual cover”, calling those in thrall to his undoubted cerebral prowess “Govoids”.
With Mr Gove and Mr Cummings spearheading a new power base at the Cabinet Office as part of their Whitehall shake-up, should Mr Johnson be watching his back?
“There is no doubt that Michael’s ultimate ambition is to become prime minister,” said one senior Tory. “What troubles MPS more is the idea that Boris seems so willing to devolve so much of the heavy lifting to him. He might do the detail but he didn’t come close to winning the leadership. And no one ever voted for Cummings.”
‘What troubles MPS is the idea that Boris seems so willing to devolve so much of the heavy lifting to Gove’