Michael Gove accused of paving the way for historic Conservative election defeat by ‘betraying’ Boris Johnson as well ‘plotting and scheming’ by top official in his old constituency
Michael Gove was accused last night of paving the way for a historic Tory election defeat through ‘betrayal’ Boris Johnsonas well as ‘plotting and planning’.
He also faced claims that he had committed “catastrophic errors of judgement” and had a “terrible socialist vision” of how the country should be governed.
Uncomfortably for the Leveling Up secretary, these damning statements came not from his enemies in the other parties, but from a former senior Tory in his own constituency.
Moreover, his accuser – David Jay, until recently treasurer of the Surrey Heath Conservative Association – emailed his damning summary directly to Mr Gove.
Despite being considered one of the ToriesAs a top performer in government for the past fourteen years, Mr Gove – who has now stepped down as MP for Surrey Heath – has divided opinion among party members over his fraught relationship with Mr Johnson.
Pictured: David Jay, former treasurer of the Surrey Heath Conservative Association
Under dramatic circumstances, he effectively torpedoed Johnson’s first bid for the Tory leadership in 2016 by withdrawing his support at the last minute.
In 2022, he was dismissed from Cabinet by Mr Johnson after allegedly telling the then Prime Minister that he should resign.
In his letter, Mr Jay took issue with Mr Gove’s treatment of the former Prime Minister: ‘Conspiracy, scheming and disloyalty – twice you have betrayed Boris Johnson, a Prime Minister who, despite your best efforts, steered us towards the best election outcome for our party since the time of Thatcher.
“The first of your betrayals, in 2016, led us straight to a disastrous Theresa May premiership – reversing the Brexit that people had voted for and risking derailing it altogether.
“The second betrayal, in 2022, has brought us the chaos and more than 20 percent electoral deficits we are suffering today and is now likely to lead us to a historic defeat in the next general election.”
Mr Jay claimed that in 2022 too, ‘the ink had barely dried on Liz [Truss]’s nomination document before you briefed against her and lobbied to install your favorite candidate as Prime Minister’.
Michael Gove was last night accused of paving the way for a historic Tory election defeat by ‘betraying’ Boris Johnson, and ‘plotting and scheming’.
That was seen last night as a thinly veiled reference to Kemi Badenoch’s well-known supporters by Mr Gove.
Mr Jay went on to list what he called ‘catastrophic errors of judgement’, criticizing Mr Gove for being a ‘lockdown fanatic’ during the Covid pandemic, adding: ‘We are still dealing with the impact of these measures affect people’s lives, health and education. .’
He continued: “You have prioritized power over conservatism at every stage of your parliamentary career. You once said: ‘We’ve had enough of experts’. And yet you have continually tried to impose yourself on all aspects of people’s lives, along with a terrible socialist vision of how a country and a party should be run.”
Last night, allies of the minister denied he had plotted against Mr Johnson or taken action to topple him while he was prime minister.
A spokesman for Mr Gove said only: ‘David has been a great local activist and treasurer. Michael wishes him all the best for the future.’
