Could Michael Gove become CEO of Government?

Boris Johnson’s plan to become a ‘chairman of the board’ Prime Minister – leaving to others the hard graft of running his administration – clears the way for Michael Gove to become the Government’s effective chief executive.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is being viewed with suspicion by colleagues, who believe that he is ‘on manoeuvres’ to secure an expanded Whitehall fiefdom through the forthcoming reshuffle.

The ambitious former leadership contender – who torpedoed Mr Johnson’s 2016 bid for the Tory crown – has ‘used his extensive involvement in the planning for a No-Deal Brexit to extend his tentacles throughout Whitehall’, according to one source.

‘He wants to play a key part in all the trade talks and hopes to lead the UK’s preparations for the UN climate change summit in Glasgow later this year.

‘He even wants to be pivotal to Boris’s levelling up agenda’.

After winning his 80-seat majority in December, Mr Johnson said he wanted to ‘level up’ by raising economic performance across all parts of the country.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is being viewed with suspicion by colleagues, who believe that he is ‘on manoeuvres’ to secure an expanded Whitehall fiefdom through the forthcoming reshuffle

A Cabinet Minister told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Michael seems to want to use his No Deal planning experience to run the country for ever. He’s a bit of a Cabinet cowboy, riding over everyone else’s patch.’

The Minister added that Mr Johnson’s chief Brexit negotiator David Frost had ‘bristled’ at the idea that Mr Gove would have ‘oversight’ of his work. 

November’s Glasgow climate change summit, known as COP26, is designed to produce an international response to the climate emergency.

Before Mr Johnson won his Brexit deal, Mr Gove chaired the daily XO committee in Whitehall, which developed contingency plans for a No-Deal Brexit. 

It gave him the power to give orders to any department which needed to be ready for the worst-case scenarios.

A source said: ‘Boris’s desire to be a hands-off PM, as he showed by staying on the beach while Iraq was in flames, is the perfect opportunity for a workaholic control freak like Michael. It means he can get his hands on everything from the trade talks – both with the EU and the White House – to the UN’s climate change agenda.

‘Michael and Boris have always had this strange psychodrama, dating back to the time he knifed Boris, but now he is on the brink of effectively being CEO for his old foe’.

Mr Gove’s expected elevation means he will be vying with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab for the bragging rights of being Mr Johnson’s No 2.

The Minister said Mr Johnson’s chief Brexit negotiator David Frost (who is pictured above) had ‘bristled’ at the idea that Mr Gove would have ‘oversight’ of his work