Rupert Murdoch ‘a great man’ – Michael Gove

Speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative conference hosted by Political Editor Gary Gibbon, Mr Gove said: “I’m a great admirer of Rupert Murdoch, he’s a force of nature, a phenomenon, he’s a great man.”

He admitted that defending the owner of the Times, Sunday Times and Sun was not easy after events at the News of the World, which Mr Murdoch closed in July. “I don’t think you can look into this episode and the questions raised without looking at his whole career. I know that proclaiming reveration for Rupert Murdoch is like being a Tory in Scotland in the 1980s. Not a majority position, but any judgment has to take into account those things.”

Proclaiming reveration for Rupert Murdoch is like being a Tory in Scotland in the 1980s. Education Secretary Michael Gove

Mr Gove, a former Times journalist, also revealed that it was “absolutely” true that there had been divisions in the cabinet over military intervention in Libya, saying some Conservative ministers were unhappy.

And he appeared to criticise Prime Minister David Cameron’s description of Gaza as a “prison camp”. He said using these words was “unwise”, adding: “Prison camps is not right. There was a particular desire to talk about it as an open prison, and the word camp found its way in there.”

Read more: PM tells Gove to 'get a move on' with schools policy

Adoption

Mr Gove spoke movingly about being adopted as a baby, saying he had not wanted to offend his “perfect” mother by trying to find his biological parents.

“Because my parents did so much for me, that’s why I haven’t pursued the natural curiosity. You can sense sometimes that if I were to pursue that that it would seem disrespectful, as if one mother wasn’t good enough. I’d hate to think that anything I’d do would hurt her or would imply that she wasn’t a perfect mother.”

He disclosed that Mr Cameron was determined to send his children to state schools. “David wants his children to go to state school and he’s told me that I’d better get a move on to make sure he has as wide a choice as possible. He wants to make sure that he has a truly broad spectrum.”

Tony Blair

The cabinet minister spoke about his admiration for former prime minister Tony Blair, saying his views had changed in the same way Elizabeth Bennet’s feelings for Darcy had altered in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

He had initially felt an “almost bottomless dislike” for Mr Blair, but “as he became more and more unpopular with his party, it made me think he was more right about the issues that mattered”.

Does my legacy look big in this? Education Secretary Michael Gove

Mr Gove described how he believed Mr Cameron differed from Mr Blair. While Mr Cameron was an “ego-free politician” and “intrinsically well balanced”, the former Labour leader was obsessed with how he would be viewed, asking himself: “Does my legacy look big in this? How will history judge me?”

He had initially felt an “almost bottomless dislike” for Mr Blair, but “as he became more and more unpopular with his party, it made me think he was more right about the issues that mattered”.

Does my legacy look big in this? Education Secretary Michael Gove

Mr Gove described how he believed Mr Cameron differed from Mr Blair. While Mr Cameron was an “ego-free politician” and “intrinsically well balanced”, the former Labour leader was obsessed with how he would be viewed, asking himself: “Does my legacy look big in this? How will history judge me?”