Boris Johnson Is Doing A Good Job As Prime Minister, Says Michael Gove

Boris Johnson is doing “a good job” as prime minister, according to Michael Gove – despite nearly 150 of his own MPs voting to get rid of him.

The levelling up secretary said he had “enthusiastically” voted for the prime minister in Monday night’s vote of confidence.

And he insisted he had “made a mistake” during the 2016 Tory leadership contest when he claimed Johnson did not have the necessary skills to lead the country.

Gove had initially been part of Johnson’s campaign team, but pulled out in order to run for the leadership himself.

He said at the time: “I came in the last few days, reluctantly and firmly, to the conclusion that while Boris has great attributes he was not capable of uniting that team and leading the party and the country in the way that I would have hoped.”

The PM survived an attempt to kick him out of Number 10 by his own parliamentary colleagues when he won Monday’s confidence vote by 211 to 148.

But the scale of the rebellion means he remains under huge pressure to turn around the Conservatives’ fortunes.

 Asked on Sky News whether he had voted for the PM, Gove said: “Enthusiastically, yes.

“I made a mistake in 2016, a misjudgment. If you’ve been in politics for a little while, as I have been, then there are always mistakes that you can look back on.

“But, no, I think the prime minister is doing a good job.”

When asked whether he would run against Johnson again in a future leadership contest, Gove said: “Oh God, no.”

He added: “I can understand why some of my MP colleagues have concerns and I think it’s important that over the course of the next two years that we demonstrate that the Government is focused on delivering for the people across the United Kingdom.”