Michael Gove

Biography

Michael Gove was re-elected MP for Surrey Heath with a majority of 17,289 votes.

He became education secretary after the 2010 general election.

Michael was educated at both state and independent schools, in England and Scotland, and his mother worked at Aberdeen School for the Deaf and Aberdeen University.

All his experiences have led to a commitment to raise standards in state schools and help children from less privileged backgrounds maximise their potential.

Michael was brought up in Aberdeen by his mother and father, who ran a fish-processing business. He is married to Sarah Vine, a writer for The Times, and has two children.

They now live in Surrey Heath, where Michael has been MP since 2005. He is an active local campaigner, having run vital projects to protect the local environment, improve public transport and help police deal with anti-social behaviour.

Michael worked as a journalist before entering into politics, and whilst at The Times he joined Frances Lawrence, widow of murdered headmaster Philip Lawrence, to fight street crime and its causes. Their campaign influenced legislation to ban combat knives and led to the creation of an award scheme for good citizenship among the young. This desire to encourage young people to lead better lives carried through into Michael's role before the 2010 general election as Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.

MP for Surrey Heath, May 2005 - Shadow Minister for Housing, Dec 2005 - June 2007 Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, June 2007 - FAMILY LIFE: Married to Sarah Vine Two children

Constituency

Surrey Heath

Twitter

Constituency Address

Surrey Heath Conservative Association , Curzon House , Church Road , Windlesham , GU20 6BH

Constituency Tel

01276 472468

Date of Birth

26 August 1967

Email

martinja@parliament.uk

Party

Conservative

Personal Website

www.michaelgove.com

Westminster Address

House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

Westminster Tel

0207 219 6804

Michael Gove latest news

Gove defends 'Mr Men' speech: 'I have every right'

Michael Gove laments the use of Mr Men in history lessons - and more

Michael Gove has insisted he has the right to force children away from popular books like Twilight in the search for "higher standards".

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Michael Gove's 'anti-Mr Men' speech in full

Michael Gove laments the use of Mr Men in history lessons - and more

Education secretary Michael Gove has launched a scathing attack on teachers' enthusiasm for providing pupils with 'relevant' material, as he prepares for a major overhaul of the national curriculum. Read it in full here.

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Longer school day: Permanent detention for everyone?

'Can we go home yet?': Gove's plans would extend the school day and shorten holidays.

Michael Gove wants to extend the school day and shorten holidays in order to modernise the '19th century' British education system.

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Comment: The government plot to turn all schools into academies

John Pugh: 'Government brokers have moved in in a predatory way when Ofsted results show any kind of blip on schools.'

Even a blip in a school's Ofsted results sends in predatory government brokers.

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Leading by example: Gove bullies MPs over bullying allegations

Michael Gove stood by his special advisers in a bitterly fought session.

Michael Gove has shrugged off allegations that his special advisers bullied civil servants in his department, in a bitterly fought committee session which proved frustrating for both sides.

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Shakespearian tragedy: Gove waxes lyrical about the fall of Huhne

Fall of the house of Huhne: Gove gets dramatic on energy secretary story

People will remember Chris Huhne as the man who came within a hair's breadth of becoming deputy prime minister but ended up in "Brixton nick", Michael Gove has said.

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End of the golden boy: Gove humiliated in new coalition U-turn

Gove, deflated: The education secretary is the author of the latest coalition U-turn

Michael Gove's reputation as Cabinet's golden boy took a severe hammering this morning, as he announced a humiliating retreat on his ambitious plans for GCSEs to the Commons.

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Michael Gove GCSE statement in full

Michael Gove statement on GCSE reform in full

Read Michael Gove's statement making a humiliating U-turn on GCSE reform in full.

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Gove pressured to fire special advisers after Twitter row

Michael Gove's special advisers under fire for @toryeducation account

Labour is demanding an official investigation into allegations that Michael Gove's special advisers could have broken their code of conduct.

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The end of history? Students fall out of subject in their droves

The History Boys: The number of pupils taking history at 16 is falling, especially in state schools

Schools need to urgently drop Labour's citizenship classes and replace them with history lessons to deal with the collapse of interest in the subject, MPs said today.

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