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Puppet Master Or Pawn – Just What Exactly Is Michael Gove’s Game?

Ever since he knifed Boris Johnson in the back in 2016’s Tory leadership contest, Michael Gove has been followed around by one question: what is he up to?

Despite being apparently forgiven by the prime minister and handed a key cabinet role as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Gove still sparks suspicion around Westminster.

Depending on who you talk to, he is variously described as the man pulling the strings in Johnson’s government, or someone who is being kept busy in the Cabinet Office to keep him “out of trouble” and away from any plotting.

That said, Gove does appear to have changed.

Having once declared the UK had “had enough of experts” during the Brexit referendum, he has now positioned himself as one of the cabinet’s leading so-called “doves” calling for the suppression of coronavirus and aligning himself with the, erm, expert scientists on the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).

But given that as recently as April he was quoted as telling colleagues “we need to run this hot” and “I agree with Rishi [Sunak]” – seen as the leading anti-lockdown “hawk” – it is a position that has again raised eyebrows.

HuffPost UK spoke to MPs and Westminster and Whitehall insiders to try to figure out just what Gove is up to, and where he may go next.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove walks outside Downing Street in London
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove walks outside Downing Street in London

‘The Cabinet Office is more powerful than it has been’

Gove is undoubtedly one of the central figures in Johnson’s government, taking on key roles in tackling the twin crises facing the UK in Covid and Brexit.

He chairs the cabinet’s key Covid-O (operations) committee, which meets daily Monday to Friday, where HuffPost UK understands he often steers the conversation with permanent members Sunak and Matt Hancock in the way No.10 wants it to go.

Gove also sits on the wider Covid strategy committee, chaired by the prime minister, and is overseeing preparations for Brexit and the potential disaster of no deal.

To help him, he has created roles for key allies in the...

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