Ermine-draped Michael Gove takes his seat in the unelected House of Lords after being awarded a gong in ex-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s delayed resignation honours list
Michael Gove has become Baron Gove after taking his seat in the unelected House of Lords this morning.
The former Housing Secretary, who is now editor of the Tory magazine The Spectator, was among those to have been awarded a gong in Rishi Sunak’s delayed resignation honours list.
Clad in ermine robes, he was sworn in under the name of “Baron Gove of Torry, in our city of Aberdeen” and was told: “For us our heirs and successors, do appoint, give and grant unto him the said name, state, degree, style, dignity, title and honour of Baron Gove, to have and to hold unto him for his life.”
Lord Gove said: “I, Michael, Lord Gove, do swear by almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors according to law, so help me god.”
The former Cabinet minister, who served across multiple departments, will join the House of lords, where he can once again return to a position of power in Parliament. Mr Gove was joined by Jeremy Hunt, Mel Stride and James Cleverly who received knighthoods on Mr Sunak’s honours list.
Mr Sunak handing awards to his close allies immediately sparked accusations of “shameless cronyism”, with the former PM’s list criticised for giving out “rewards for failure”.
A peerage for controversial Mr Gove, who was Education Secretary for four years, was slammed by education unions.
Lord Gove, who served for 19 years in Parliament, ran for the Tory leadership in 2016, a move credited with scuppering Mr Johnson’s hopes and paving the way for Theresa May to become PM.
As reports of his peerage emerged, an ally of Boris Johnson told The Times: “He’s been in frontline politics for a long time and is a more worthy recipient than many, but if you went on trustworthiness, values or consistency he’s one of the most treacherous people in politics.
“On Brexit, Cameron felt completely betrayed by him. He completely betrayed Boris more than once.”