Michael Gove’s son reveals ‘emotional baggage’ after his parents’ divorce

Michael Gove’s son has revealed the “emotional baggage” he faced after his parents divorced.

Will Gove, 20, discussed the breakdown of his parents’ marriage with his former Cabinet minister father in the Daily Mail’s The Apple & The Tree podcast, where a parent and their adult child speak about shared family history.

Mr Gove, who has held a number of Cabinet positions under four prime ministers and is now editor of The Spectator, asked his son to name a moment in their relationship that came close to breaking his heart.

Will quipped that apart from his father not supporting Chelsea FC, it had been the separation from his mother, Mail columnist Sarah Vine, in January 2022 after the pair had shared 20 years of marriage.

“The closest you’ve ever come was splitting up with mum,” Will told his father, adding: “It was upsetting at the time. At first you think ‘no, this is good’. But there was a certain amount of emotional baggage there that got me in the end.”

Will revealed that of all the high-profile political campaigns his family endured during Mr Gove’s career, the pandemic became the most challenging time in his parents’ relationship.

He told his father: “For you and mum, lockdown didn’t seem the best. Me and Bea [sister Beatrice] knew something was happening because mum had been sleeping in the guest bedroom for years by that point.

“It was early 2021 that you broke the news of your separation to us both. Then lockdown happened, and you were forced to spend loads of time together.”

He added: “Mum said it was hard because she wanted time to herself, to explore after 20 years of being married to you.

“It was made harder still by all the criticism the Tories were getting – I think mum had just had too much of it by that point. Lockdown caused the water to come to boil, to steal a phrase.”

Mr Gove told his son the two moments of political upheaval that interfered with his home life the most was the “furore over expenses” where he said “every MP was in the firing line” and the lead-up to the Brexit referendum.

“There were many ups and downs, that’s inevitable in politics,” he added, but explained there were times he worried that he was “absent” as a father.

He said: “You do worry about the fact you’re preoccupied: that even though you’re physically at home, you look absent. You ask yourself, does that mean you’re doing a good job as a parent?”

Elsewhere, Will reflected on the challenges he faced having a high-profile parent, revealing that he had been turned down for three jobs because of his surname.

He said: “I’ve been rejected from three pubs because of my surname… My friend gave me the opportunity to work there. I did a trial shift, and the worker said, ‘Yeah, fine’.

“And then when they put my name on the pay scale, the owner of the pub came into the group chat and said, ‘No Gove is working in a pub of mine’.”

He also told the podcast that when Brexit came about, friends of the family “stopped talking to us”.

On Thursday night, it was reported that Mr Gove is to enter the House of Lords as part of Rishi Sunak’s resignation honours list.

The 57-year-old served as housing secretary for the whole of Mr Sunak’s premiership and was a staunch supporter of both of his leadership campaigns.

According to the Financial Times, he will join fellow former cabinet ministers Sir Alister Jack and Simon Hart on the seven-strong list, which is expected to be published as early as tomorrow.

Mr Gove declined to comment. A spokesman for Mr Sunak was contacted for comment.

The Apple & The Tree is available on all podcast platforms, with new episodes on Thursdays.