“Take back control”: the slogan was repeated over over again by Michael Gove and Boris Johnson during Britain’s European Union referendum campaign and arguably helped tip the balance in many voters’ minds, persuading them to back the UK’s withdrawal.
Advertisement
“My pitch is very simple”, she said at a campaign launch event. Throughout his political career, Mr Gove has frequently said his political colleagues were far better “equipped” for the role than him and he lacked the capability to lead the country.
Mr Gove said he accepted that “all sorts of people would attack me personally” as a result of his decision, which has been widely viewed as an act of betrayal and may have fatally damaged his chances of winning the leadership contest.
Until then, there will be “no negotiations of any kind” about future relations between the EU and the UK, EU leaders repeatedly said this week at their summit meeting.
Mr Gove added: “Boris had the opportunity to build a team, Boris had the opportunity to lay out a particular vision in the last 24 hours and I felt that he did not step up to that challenge”.
He said the country needed someone with “not just a cool head, but a heart burning with the desire for change”.
Comparisons with Britain’s first female PM Margaret Thatcher are inevitable but she stressed: “Whether it’s a woman or a man it’s about the qualities of the people doing the job”. “I believe that the next prime minister has to be on the winning side of that argument”, he added.
At first Mr Johnson is lost for words, until he finally says: ‘I can not, unfortunately, get on with what I wanted to do, so it’ll be up to somebody else now.
Gove had been excepted to support the former mayor of London’s bid to replace David Cameron after the two led the successful campaign for a Brexit vote in last week’s European Union referendum, which led to Cameron’s resignation.
“I came to realise this week that, for all Boris’ formidable talents, he was not the right person for the task”.
Gove argued that he was “the candidate for change”, pointing to his experience as justice secretary and especially as education secretary, even though he became so unpopular in that post that Cameron moved him out of the job.
Michael Gove has lashed out at leadership rival Theresa May as he lined up his next target in the race for the Conservative crown. Let’s make the most of the Brexit opportunities!
The other three candidates are British Secretary of State for Defense Liam Fox, British Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Stephen Crabb and British Minister of State for Energy Andrea Leadsom.
Conservative lawmakers will whittle the field down to two leadership candidates before the final decision is made by a postal vote of all party members.
Advertisement
The abrupt end to the former Mayor of London’s campaign came after an acrimonious European Union referendum campaign during which he was perceived as waging a proxy war for the leadership against David Cameron.
