Sunak awards Gove peerage in resignation honours list

Several other colleagues of the former PM also make the cut

- MILLIE COOKE

Rishi Sunak has unveiled his resignation honours list, with former cabinet minister Michael Gove, ex-chief whip Simon Hart and former Scottish secretary Sir Alister Jack all receiving gongs from the former prime minister.

It is a well-established tradition for outgoing prime ministers to hand peerages and other gongs to key allies after they leave office.

Mr Sunak has already awarded honours to a number of close aides, including a peerage for his former chief of staff Liam Booth-Smith and a knighthood for deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, which were handed out in a separate dissolution honours list to mark the end of the last parliament following the general election.

But who features on today’s list, and why have they made the cut?

Michael Gove

Michael Gove has been handed a peerage in Rishi Sunak’s resignation honours. He held multiple cabinet posts over his political career, including education, environment, and housing secretary, but never held one of the UK’s three great offices of state.

However, he was a highly influential figure in successive Conservative governments and built a reputation for being able to make or break leadership bids or campaigns. He ran for the party leadership himself in 2016, scuppering Boris Johnson’s bid and sparking a long-standing rift between the pair.

Mr Gove went on to serve in Mr Johnson’s cabinet but was sacked in the final hours of his time in office after calling for the then PM to resign. He is also said to have betrayed David Cameron by taking a more prominent role in the 2016 Vote Leave campaign than he was ever expected to.

Asked about Mr Gove’s ennoblement, a close ally of Mr Johnson’s told The Times he is a “more worthy recipient than many”, but dubbed him “one of the most treacherous people in politics”.

Alister Jack