Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom have joined the now record-breaking exodus of Conservative MPs from the Commons, with the former saying it was time for a “new generation” to lead the party.
Gove’s announcement in a letter tweeted on Friday evening had been anticipated by some given the strong Liberal Democrat challenge he faces in his Surrey Heath constituency, but adds to the sense of Tories fleeing in the face of a likely general election loss.
I genuinely thought The Cockroach of British Politics would outlast us all.
The rats are certainly jumping ship. I saw one, forget her name, is going because she’s going to UAE or somewhere similar because her husband has picked up a cushy job.
I think we are beyond the classic rats/ship analogy -perhaps “so long and thanks for all the fish”?
Oh yes, even better.
At least I have my towel handy.
F - he was one of the few members of cabinet I had a begrudging respect for.
Andrea Loathsome can do one though.
I agree. I thought he was a snake after Brexit but since then, everyone I’ve heard his name he seems to be pushing through some new policy I agree with.
Why.
Being serious Why was he deserving of that
Made an impact in every department he was in charge of, spent time crafting and implementing new policies which were usually successful.
Even Labour figures like Andy Burnham are on record as saying he is good at delivering results and he appreciated working with him on levelling up.
At the end of the day I have people I like and dislike on both sides of the chamber. It skews based on my political views but I feel I have to appreciate when someone is working hard.
He might have done a few surprisingly acceptable things as of late, but let’s not forget him destroying that schools building/repairing/upgrading project (which is why a large chunk of school buildings are now dangerous), then completely ruining secondary education with pointless, backwards reforms, loudly supporting and championing the destruction of the NHS to be replaced by a private subscription model etc…
His impact has generally been to meddle, alter, ruin and destroy, against the experience, knowledge, research and expertise of anyone who knows anything within the field and instead promoting wildly ill-thought-out early 20th century Tory whims because he’s “Had enough of listening to experts”.
Apologies for the rant, but he’s been high up on my “worst humans in the country” list for over a decade - though he’s been knocked down the list a little as of late, because who can compete with Mel Stride, Priti Patel, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Suella Braverman etc.
Surprised to see Gove go, like him or loathe him he’s always seemed a survivor.
At this rate there’s going to be a real vacuum of senior figures to take the reins once Sunak goes.
It’s OK:
David Cameron is back now.
Kindest thing they can’t do, really. Keeps them unelectable and out of office for at least a decade.
You can’t spell government without gove.
The Tories are done.
