Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom have joined the now record-breaking exodus of Conservative MPs from the Commons, with the former saying it was time for a “new generation” to lead the party.

Gove’s announcement in a letter tweeted on Friday evening had been anticipated by some given the strong Liberal Democrat challenge he faces in his Surrey Heath constituency, but adds to the sense of Tories fleeing in the face of a likely general election loss.

  • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝OPA
    link
    English
    1624 days ago

    I genuinely thought The Cockroach of British Politics would outlast us all.

    • Baggins
      link
      fedilink
      English
      624 days ago

      The rats are certainly jumping ship. I saw one, forget her name, is going because she’s going to UAE or somewhere similar because her husband has picked up a cushy job.

      • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝OPA
        link
        English
        624 days ago

        I think we are beyond the classic rats/ship analogy -perhaps “so long and thanks for all the fish”?

        • Baggins
          link
          fedilink
          English
          323 days ago

          Oh yes, even better.

          At least I have my towel handy.

  • @thehatfox@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    1524 days ago

    Surprised to see Gove go, like him or loathe him he’s always seemed a survivor.

    At this rate there’s going to be a real vacuum of senior figures to take the reins once Sunak goes.

  • @steeznson@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    124 days ago

    F - he was one of the few members of cabinet I had a begrudging respect for.

    Andrea Loathsome can do one though.

      • @steeznson@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        524 days ago

        Made an impact in every department he was in charge of, spent time crafting and implementing new policies which were usually successful.

        Even Labour figures like Andy Burnham are on record as saying he is good at delivering results and he appreciated working with him on levelling up.

        At the end of the day I have people I like and dislike on both sides of the chamber. It skews based on my political views but I feel I have to appreciate when someone is working hard.

        • @fakeman_pretendname
          link
          723 days ago

          He might have done a few surprisingly acceptable things as of late, but let’s not forget him destroying that schools building/repairing/upgrading project (which is why a large chunk of school buildings are now dangerous), then completely ruining secondary education with pointless, backwards reforms, loudly supporting and championing the destruction of the NHS to be replaced by a private subscription model etc…

          His impact has generally been to meddle, alter, ruin and destroy, against the experience, knowledge, research and expertise of anyone who knows anything within the field and instead promoting wildly ill-thought-out early 20th century Tory whims because he’s “Had enough of listening to experts”.

          Apologies for the rant, but he’s been high up on my “worst humans in the country” list for over a decade - though he’s been knocked down the list a little as of late, because who can compete with Mel Stride, Priti Patel, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Suella Braverman etc.

    • @twinnie
      link
      324 days ago

      I agree. I thought he was a snake after Brexit but since then, everyone I’ve heard his name he seems to be pushing through some new policy I agree with.