Stop ‘unfair’ attacks on Ed Miliband, urges Tory Gove
Labour high command will be flabbergasted by his honesty: will he now come to Clegg’s defence?
Michael Gove, the Tory chief whip and former education secretary, has urged his Tory colleagues to stop the “unfair” personal attacks on Ed Miliband which he believes could backfire with voters.
Gove told listeners to an LBC Radio phone-in that how Miliband munched a bacon sandwich – and his resemblance to Wallace out of Wallace and Gromit - were “irrelevant to his ability to be a good prime minister".
Gove, who has suffered from his own share of personal attacks in the past, continued: “I also know that Ed Miliband is (a) an intelligent person and (b) a sincere and thoughtful person. I also know in his personal dealings, he is decent, honourable and truthful.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
While the Labour high command - not to mention his own colleagues - will be flabbergasted by Gove’s honesty, BBC political correspondent Iain Watson suggested on Radio 4’s Today programme that Gove had his own axe to grind about personal attacks.
Watson said “friends of Gove” blamed David Cameron's election guru Lynton Crosby for helping to engineer Gove’s removal from the Department of Education when his personal ratings showed him to be “toxic” with the school-run mums. He was replaced by the more voter-friendly Nicky Morgan and sent off to the relative obscurity of the whips’ office.
Will Gove now stand up for Nick Clegg? Tories in Sheffield, according to The Times, are gunning for the Lib Dem leader just as hard as they are for Miliband.
Yesterday a Survation poll, commissioned by the Unite union, gave Labour a ten-point lead over Clegg in his Sheffield Hallam seat, meaning the Lib Dems could lose their leader on 7 May.
But any idea that David Cameron might try to help his deputy PM survive have been scotched by local Tory candidate, Ian Walker. He said Clegg's character was an issue because voters believe he is "damaged goods".
"I don't want to decapitate the Liberals — I don't care about them — I just want to de-Clegg Sheffield," said Walker. Ouch.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Ecuador's cloud forest has legal rights – and maybe a song credit
Under the Radar In a world first, 'rights of nature' project petitions copyright office to recognise Los Cedros forest as song co-creator
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Today's political cartoons - November 3, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - presidential pitching, wavering convictions, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Why Man United finally lost patience with ten Hag
Talking Point After another loss United sacked ten Hag in hopes of success in the Champion's League
By The Week UK Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is Lammy hoping to achieve in China?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary heads to Beijing as Labour seeks cooperation on global challenges and courts opportunities for trade and investment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Britain about to 'boil over'?
Today's Big Question A message shared across far-right groups listed more than 30 potential targets for violence in the UK today
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
UK's Starmer slams 'far-right thuggery' at riots
Speed Read The anti-immigrant violence was spurred by false rumors that the suspect in the Southport knife attack was an immigrant
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The Tamils stranded on 'secretive' British island in Indian Ocean
Under the Radar Migrants 'unlawfully detained' since 2021 shipwreck on UK-controlled Diego Garcia, site of important US military base
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
David Cameron resigns as Sunak names shadow cabinet
Speed Read New foreign secretary joins 12 shadow ministers brought in to fill vacancies after electoral decimation
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Britain's Labour Party wins in a landslide
Speed Read The Conservatives were unseated after 14 years of rule
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published