Brexit chief Michael Gove to edit Tory bible The Spectator

LONDON — Former Tory Cabinet Minister and leading Brexit campaigner Michael Gove will be the next editor of Britain’s 200-year-old Spectator magazine.

Gove, who stood down as an MP at the election earlier this year, takes over from Fraser Nelson, who has edited the magazine since 2009.

It’s a major changing of the guard at a title that remains deeply influential on conservative politics in the U.K., and comes amid reports that Boris Johnson is being considered for a top editorial position at the right-leaning Telegraph newspaper.

The Spectator was acquired by GB News co-owner Paul Marshall earlier this month. The hedge fund tycoon paid £100 million for the title.

Gove served in government for almost the entirety of the Tories’ period in office from 2010 to 2024. One of the most prominent campaigners for Brexit, he twice ran unsuccessfully for the party’s leadership. But his roots are in journalism: he spent years as a columnist and editor at the Times of London.

In a Spectator editorial announcing the move, Nelson — who will continue to write for the magazine and become associate editor — said of Gove: “He might have taken a circuitous route but his experience, combined with his journalistic skills and the quality of The Spectator team around him, will make for quite a potent combination.”

Gove takes office from Oct. 4, while the Conservative leadership election is still ongoing. Gove backed Kemi Badenoch in the 2022 Tory leadership contest, and she is seen as one of the leading contenders this time round.

The Spectator has long been associated with the Conservatives, with former editors often going on to play a significant role within the party. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson edited the Spectator between 1999 and 2005 while ex-Chancellor Nigel Lawson was editor from 1966 to 1970 before entering parliament.

Gove’s appointment is technically dependent on the U.K.’s Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, a watchdog which advises former ministers on roles they take up after leaving public office.