Michael Gove has backed Kemi Badenoch to become the next Prime Minister and said there has been a “change in the weather” over Nigel Farage and Reform UK. In an exclusive interview given moments after arriving at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, the former cabinet minister gave his thoughts to the Express about what he feels is a receding threat from Reform. Although he says Kemi “does have what it takes”, he warned that now is not the time for complacency.
Gove praises Badenoch's statement of principles
The interview came as Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch released a Margaret Thatcher-esque blueprint for her party, so voters know what they could expect should a snap General Election be called by Andy Burnham. Gove, who is now in the House of Lords and editor of The Spectator, said the atmosphere at the annual event feels very different compared to last year.
He said: “It’s encouraging. I thought that the statement of principles that was covered in the newspapers today from Kemi was brilliant and I think that obviously Andy Burnham caught Labour’s imagination last week so that’s upped the stakes but I think that everything that Kemi and the team have been saying over the last 48 hours has been very encouraging.”
Burnham a bigger threat than Starmer
Gove said Andy Burnham has undoubtedly given the Labour Party a boost - and that he is a bigger threat than Keir Starmer. He said: “When we arrived last year, firstly, Reform had had a good summer and secondly, there were question marks over the party’s future, even Kemi’s future. I thought that was misplaced and premature but it was widespread and then Kemi knocked it out of the park with her conference speech and then subsequently her response to the Budget and her evisceration of Rachel Reeves confirmed what people had seen in Manchester which was that she had taken her time to work out her approach and was now in command of the party and proving the most effective thorn in the government’s side.
“So it’s still the case obviously that Burnham is a more formidable opponent than Starmer and that Reform have got their £72m pounds in their locker, but I think that Kemi has refreshed her team, she has been active in the transfer window, and I think that it should be encouraging.
“It’s still the case, obviously, that the Tories have got a lot to do and people’s exasperation with how things ended - and I have got to take my share of the blame for that - is real but I think the fact that Kemi showing that it’s a different party under her is critical and that’s what this week, I think, will probably demonstrate.”
Change in weather over Reform
Last year, said Gove, Nigel Farage and Reform were looming large over the party. Asked whether Kemi and her shadow cabinet face the same level of threat this year, he said: “You can never write him off. He’s been one of the most resilient figures in politics now for more than two decades but there’s definitely been a change in the weather and I think that both the funding scandals but also some of the internal divisions within Reform have held them back and it’s not just been about Reform falling back it’s about Kemi and her team doing a progressively better job so it’s all to play for and I think at the moment most people would say more of the momentum is with Kemi but it’s still the case that both parties are within a few percentage points of one another so anyone who is complacent or who predicts what is going to happen in the next few months I think doesn’t appreciate just how volatile public opinion is but if you have the momentum that’s an advantage and it’s something to exploit.”
Finally, Gove is unequivocal when asked who will be the next Prime Minister of the UK - but, he warns, there is a long way to go. He said: “I think it will be Kemi. She does have what it takes.” But he added: “There are lots of bridges to cross.”
