Michael Gove has announced that he is stepping down as an MP, becoming the biggest name in a Tory exodus after Rishi Sunak surprised colleagues with his snap election.
The Communities Secretary, who has been in Cabinet for most of the Conservatives’ 14 years in power, said it was time for a “new generation” of political leaders.
Mr Gove’s announcement brings to an end a 19-year parliamentary career that included being education secretary, chief whip, justice secretary, environment secretary and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
His career was also marked by public fallouts with Lord Cameron and Boris Johnson.
His decision comes after polling analysis showed his hopes of re-election in Surrey Heath were on a knife edge. He was projected to win by just 1 per cent, fuelling accusations from the Liberal Democrats that he was “running scared”.
Mr Gove won the Surrey Heath seat at the 2019 election with a majority of more than 18,000.
He said in a letter to his Tory association chairman: “I know the toll office can take, as do those closest to me. No one in politics is a conscript.
“We are volunteers who willingly choose our fate. And the chance to serve is wonderful. But there comes a moment when you know that it is time to leave. That a new generation should lead.”
By Friday evening, 78 Conservative MPs had announced they would not be standing for re-election, exceeding the previous record set in 1997, when New Labour stormed to victory.
That amounts to around one in five of the Tories who won in the 2019 election. Eleven have quit in the two days after Mr Sunak revealed his shock summer election, with more expected.
The other 10 are Dame Andrea Leadsom, Greg Clark, Craig Mackinlay, Sir John Redwood, Sir David Evennett, Dame Eleanor Laing, Jo Churchill, Huw Merriman, James Grundy, and Sir Michael Ellis.
Dame Andrea, a former business secretary and Tory leadership contender, confirmed on Friday night that she would not be standing for re-election.
The rush for the door has distracted from the early days of Mr Sunak’s campaign, and Downing Street’s message that the Tories have a chance of pulling off a surprise victory and are united in taking the fight to Labour.
Mr Gove is one of the most well-known Conservative politicians of the past two decades, having been at the centre of Lord Cameron’s modernisation drive that won back power in 2010.
He remains best known for his education reforms, which saw free schools at arms-length from the state created across the country. Labour is not proposing to reverse the changes.
But Mr Gove split spectacularly with Lord Cameron when he backed Brexit and helped lead the Leave campaign. He then infuriated Boris Johnson by flipping from chief supporter to critic of his subsequent leadership bid.
Mr Gove also ran twice for the Conservative Party leadership himself, losing to Theresa May in 2016 and losing to Mr Johnson in 2019.
Mr Gove wrote in his letter: “I am proud to have led the Vote Leave campaign alongside Boris Johnson and Gisela Stuart – which secured the largest mandate in modern British history for a vote to Leave the European Union and take back control of our political destiny.
“Fundamentally our country is stronger with politicians in Westminster able to control our laws, our borders and our money. Since 2016 we have also increased NHS funding by considerably more than £350 million a week.
“Throughout my time in politics, although I have undoubtedly made mistakes, I have always tried to be a voice for those who have been overlooked and undervalued. I have tried to fight for greater social justice. My education reforms were designed to build a country where everyone – no matter their background – can become the authors of their own life stories.
“For me, that is what being in Parliament and being in government is all about.”
A poll by YouGov last month projected Mr Gove was on track to keep his Surrey Heath seat by a margin of just one per cent, with the Conservatives on 33 per cent and the Liberal Democrats 32 per cent.
As soon as the election was called on Wednesday, Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, went to a campaign launch event in Surrey Heath, with the party claiming cabinet ministers including Mr Gove “will be looking nervously over their shoulders”.
Sarah Olney, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, said: “Conservative politicians are fleeing the blue wall in their droves. Michael Gove is running scared of the Liberal Democrats. The drumbeat of Conservative MPs stepping down has been getting louder as the days go by – now it’s deafening.”
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