Day of the long knives: why Michael Gove had to go

Cameron gives government a feminine makeover in an effort to win the 2015 general election

Education Secretary Michael Gove is called in to Downing Street
LONDON, MONDAY: Education Secretary Michael Gove is called in to Downing Street for a meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron following his row with Home Secretary Theresa May over the alleged extremist takeovers of several Birmingham schools.
(Image credit: 2014 Getty Images)

The demotion of the acerbic Michael Gove to Chief Whip, and his replacement as Education Secretary by Nicky Morgan, is the clearest sign of pre-election panic by David Cameron. The Prime Minister clearly feels he has to change the face of his government to head off defeat at the May 2015 general election.

After the shock resignation of William Hague as Foreign Secretary, and the sacking of a string of Cabinet ministers, it amounts to the biggest reshuffle of Cameron’s term of office.

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is the pseudonym for a London-based political consultant who writes exclusively for The Week.co.uk.