MICHAEL Gove has revealed his new title as he prepares to enter the House of Lords, admitting that it could divide locals.
Gove – who served in the Tory Cabinet in various roles for most of their 14 years in power from 2010 to 2024 – will enter the House of Lords next month.
He was listed in Rishi Sunak's resignation honours list alongside former Scottish secretary Alister Jack, former transport secretary Mark Harper, former Tory whip Simon Hart, former Tory party chief executive Stephen Massey, former attorney general Victoria Prentis, and the former head of No 10’s policy unit Eleanor Shawcross.
The Press and Journal revealed Gove will become Lord Gove of Torry when he takes up a seat in the Lords.
Speaking to the paper, Gove admitted that his new title could divide locals, leaving them either "scunnered or pleased".
Gove, who was brought up in Aberdeen, spent his political career as the MP for Surrey in England.
He attended Oxford University and returned to Aberdeen to start his journalism career at the Press and Journal, before entering politics in 2005.
Gove told the paper that "Aberdeen shaped me" and that his new title pays respect to "somewhere very special".
He said: "It’s where I grew up and where I got the opportunities from my parents and my teachers.
“Aberdeen shaped me. People in Aberdeen might regret that now and say ‘why do we get the blame?’ But it’s Aberdeen that made me.”
Gove said his new title was in memory of his late father Ernest Gove, who was born in Aberdeen. His fishing business, established by Gove's grandfather, was based in Torry.
When asked how the city's residents would react to his new title, he responded: "I don't know."
Gove continued: "I hope that people will recognise that this is born of affection and respect.
"Torry as a community has been resilient through thick and thin.
"One of the things I witnessed was the decline in the fishing trade there.
"I’m paying my respect to somewhere that’s very special.
"It may be that people are scunnered or pleased."
Sharing the story on Twitter/X, the SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said: "Abolish the Lords."
When Sunak's honours list was published earlier this month, the SNP's Pete Wishart said it was "one last slap in the face to the people of Scotland for Rishi Sunak."
He continued: "While Alister Jack and Michael Gove settle into their cushy ‘jobs’ for life safe, unaccountable to voters, people across Scotland are still suffering the effects of fourteen years of Tory rule."
