Michael Gove was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Surrey Heath in May 2005.
Born in Edinburgh in 1967, and brought up in Aberdeen, Michael was educated in England and Scotland, in the state and independent sectors. Michael is passionately committed to raising standards in state schools and helping children from less privileged backgrounds to maximise their potential.
Michael has two children with Sarah Vine, one daughter, Beatrice, and a son, William, who was born at Frimley Park Hospital in November 2004.
Michael's parents live in Aberdeen where his father ran a fish-processing business and his mother was a lab assistant at Aberdeen University, before working at Aberdeen School for the Deaf. Sarah's mother was brought up in Farnborough, Hants, and Sarah's father was brought up in Farnham, Surrey.
After graduating from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University, Michael became a journalist with his first venture as a reporter for The Press and Journal in Aberdeen, before becoming a researcher and reporter at Scottish Television, and a reporter for BBC Television. During this time, Michael reported on a diverse array of issues from corruption within the EU in Brussels, to the threat to small businesses from red tape as well as championing the victims of crime.
Michael later moved to The Times, where he went onto become Assistant Editor. During his tenure, Michael worked closely with Frances Lawrence, widow of the murdered headmaster Philip Lawrence, to fight street crime and its causes. Frances's campaign succeeded in establishing an award scheme for good citizenship among the young and influencing legislation to ban combat knives.
Michael has appeared regularly on radio and television, as a panellist on Radio Four's "The Moral Maze" and BBC 2's "Newsnight Review" and a guest on Channel Four News, Any Questions and Question Time - he has appeared in one feature film, where he played the school chaplain in the family comedy "A Feast at Midnight", released in 1995.
Michael is a former Chairman of Policy Exchange, a centre-right think-tank which has come up with innovative policies on policing, local government and fighting terrorism. Policy Exchange's plans to devolve more power over police priorities to local communities has been widely welcomed and compared to the initiatives introduced by Rudi Giuliani which reduced crime in New York.
Following the 2010 General Election, Michael served as Secretary of State for Education, and then as Chief Whip in 2014. After the General Election in May 2015, he became Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Justice, until July 2016. Following the 2017 General Election, Michael was appointed as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Following the 2019 General Election, he was appointed as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and most recently he has served as the Secretary of State for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities until July 2022.
In October 2022, Michael was re-appointed to the Cabinet in the roles of Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations.