Michael Gove takes the fight to Theresa May as he admits his lack of charisma… but insists he has radical PM vision
Gove urges Brits to look past geeky nature as he claims his 'heart burning with desire for change' makes him right for job
TORY leadership hopeful Michael Gove yesterday urged Brits to forget his lack of charisma while laying out his pitch for No10.
The Brexit boss admitted he was more geeky than glitzy as he launched his campaign to succeed David Cameron.
But he insisted he was the man to transform Britain with a radical policy-packed vision that he claimed would trump his rivals, including clear favourite Theresa May.
Drawing a clear dividing line with the Remain campaigner, he said Britain’s next PM must be from the “winning side” in the Referendum.
He praised Mrs May’s qualities as “a front-rank minister” in a thinly veiled dig but said Mr Cameron’s successor needed more qualities.
Mr Gove declared: “What this country needs in a Prime Minister is not just a cool head, but a heart burning with the desire for change.
“We will not get there with a business-as-usual, steady-as-she-goes approach. Britain needs leadership that is bold, that is visionary.”
Launching her own leadership campaign on Thursday, Mrs May had called for stable, honest government.
But Mr Gove countered during a lengthy speech in central London: “Two paths beckon. Either try to muddle through and hope for the best, or we can lean in, embrace the change the British people voted for and shape it in our interest.
“I am here today to argue for that second path — embarking on a journey to reach a renewed Britain, optimistic, open to the world, a place of hope and healing.”
Wounds were still fresh in Westminster after Mr Gove’s bombshell decision to ditch Boris Johnson and make his own run for No10.
He insisted he had tried to call his Brexit colleague to inform him personally — but could not get through.
He also claimed his decision had nothing to do with his newspaper columnist wife Sarah Vine, or long-time BoJo rival George Osborne.
He said: “When it comes to politics, you know, these are my views and my ideas and I’m standing on the basis of what I believe.”
The Justice Secretary claimed he realised BoJo was not capable of taking Britain on the new path required by last week’s historic EU vote.
Mr Gove said: “I knew we needed a leader who both could build and lead a united team to guide us through the challenges ahead.
“I believed that Boris Johnson could build and lead that team. But I came to realise this week that, for all Boris’ formidable talents, he was not the right person for the task.”
He added: “I had to stand up for my convictions. I had to stand up for a different course for this country. I had to stand for the leadership of this country.”
His 5,000-word speech sparked fresh accusations he had been planning his coup for weeks but he joked he had not had any time to cut it.
Mr Gove reeled off a list of “radical” ambitions to turn Britain into an economic powerhouse, and a world leader in science and education.
He said he will spend £100million a week on the NHS and cut VAT on fuel when Britain leaves the EU.
Bosses obsessed with avoiding tax at the expense of hard-working staff were also blasted — with Mr
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Gove claiming privatisation had become “discredited”.
He said: “Too many act as though they are Steve Jobs but in fact they’re really behaving like David Brent.”
In an emotional call, he also said Britain needed to close the huge divisions in society.
Calling on his experience as an adopted child, he said if you invest enough love in an individual “you can help them make a difference”.
He went on: “The Referendum showed in stark relief there are two Britains — those who can reap the benefits of globalisation and those who are flotsam and jetsam in powerful flows of global capital and free labour.
"For millions the dream of home ownership is receding and wages are stagnating.
"For millions this is not a brave new world, but an uncertain new world.
“And for all Britain’s power and prosperity, for millions this is not a land of opportunity.
“This is still a country where your schooling, your postcode, your background matters far too much and it is the passion of my life and the motivation for this leadership bid to change that.”
Mr Gove said the Referendum, where he risked his friendship with Mr Cameron to back a Brexit, showed he was a man of principle.
He said: “I stand here not as the result of calculation but with the burning desire to transform our country. Whatever charisma is, I don’t have it.
"Whatever glamour may be, I don’t think anyone could ever associate me with it.
“But at every step in my political life I’ve asked myself, ‘What is the right thing to do? What does your heart tell you?’ However inconvenient, however difficult, whatever personal risks it may entail.”
Culture Secretary John Whittingdale yesterday backed the Gove campaign – despite pledging his support to BoJo last week.
But friends last night admitted Mr Gove faced an uphill task to make the final two who will compete for votes this summer.
They fear Boris’s “Brexecution” will stop MPs backing him.
One source said: “At the minute Theresa is way ahead and the worry is that Andrea Leadsom could creep in.”
