Michael Gove In 8 Pics, GIFs And Slips That Explain The Man Who Could Be Prime Minister

Best of 'The Gover'
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Michael Gove and wife Sarah Vine
Yui Mok/PA Wire

In the most WTF moment in British politics since the last one, Michael Gove prompted chaos when he announced he will stand in the Conservative Party leadership contest.

The surprise stems from most expecting the 49-year-old Justice Secretary to form a 'dream ticket' with Boris Johnson, creating a formidable partnership many assumed was nailed-on to succeed David Cameron.

But as the last week has shown, nobody knows anything.

To get to know 'The Gover' a little better, here are his best pics, GIFs and slips that explain him a little more.

He once had a nasty fall on Downing Street
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Ups-a-daisy!
He's studious
Firstpix
Gove, aged 15 here, was was adopted at four months by a couple from Aberdeen, educated at a state school (later winning a scholarship) and was President of the Oxford Union.
His grasp of averages is questionable
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Gove was such a deeply unpopular Education Secretary that David Cameron had to move him from the job he loved because it was undermining Tory election chances.

Some, however, credit Gove's free schools initiative and other reforms for shaking up a system reluctant to change.

In any case, his defence of raising standards in schools to the Education Select Committee is worthy of The Thick Of It.

Chair: If "good" requires pupil performance to exceed the national average, and if all schools must be good, how is this mathematically possible?

Michael Gove: By getting better all the time.

Chair: So it is possible, is it?

Michael Gove: It is possible to get better all the time.

Chair: Were you better at literacy than numeracy, Secretary of State?

Michael Gove: I cannot remember.
His specs attract attention
David Jones/PA Archive
When Gove took to the Tory party conference stage in 2012, his bold new pair of glasses saw him likened to Austin Powers, Ronnie Barker, Michael Caine, Deirdre Barlow and even Spongebob Squarepants.

TV choirmaster Gareth Malone joked: "Michael Gove and I have been planning his new look for months."
He doesn't like quiche
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Many in politics pore over the weekly column written by Michael Gove’s wife, Sarah Vine, for The Daily Mail.

She once detailed the “nightmare” surrounding her husband’s decision to campaign for Brexit - but also has an “irrational aversion” to houseplants and quiche.

It also revealed Gove’s son is a Chelsea fan - and was worried 'Brexit' could affect the number of foreign players his club could attract.
He's tidy and a patriot
Clean for the Queen
In hi-vis jackets and purple T-shirt, the MP backed Keep Britain Tidy's Clean for the Queen litter pick and the internet loved it.
He's a fox
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
An internet favourite.
He was an intrepid reporter
This is a young Gove at London Pride in 1993 for BBC's On The Record. Beginning his journalism career at his local newspaper in Aberdeen, he ascended to being a senior editor on The Times.

As an MP, Gove was one high-profile Conservative that supported same-sex marriage as it passed through Parliament in 2013.