In this blog post, Mr Matt Godfrey (Deputy Head) introduces The RT Hon Michael Gove as the keynote speaker at our 2025 Academic Conference.
The annual Academic Conference at Downe House is now a firm and popular fixture in the educational calendar. The event always attracts high-profile speakers, with Katharine Birbalsingh CBE, Sir Nick Gibb and Baroness Amanda Spielman being recent keynote speakers.
This year we are delighted to be welcoming The Rt Hon Michael Gove as the keynote speaker at our 2025 Academic Conference.
Michael Gove is currently the Editor of The Spectator. As the former Member of Parliament for Surrey Heath and UK Government Cabinet Minister, he served in Cabinet across five government departments for more than a decade, from the 2010 Coalition government onwards. A first-hand witness to – and major participant in – the biggest political events in recent years, Michael has won a reputation across the political spectrum as the minister who “got things done”.
After being elected as an MP in 2005, Michael was elevated to the shadow frontbench before joining David Cameron’s Cabinet in the first Conservative-led government in 13 years. Serving as Secretary of State for Education, he steered through some of the biggest changes to education in half a century.
He went on to serve in the cabinets of three of the four subsequent Prime Ministers, including as Chief Whip, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Secretary of State for Justice, for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. He also led the Vote Leave campaign, which confounded expectations by winning the 2016 Brexit referendum. Michael’s ministerial responsibilities have stretched from preparing for Brexit to housing reforms and environmental policy to overseeing the government’s Covid-19 response.
Before entering frontline politics, Michael was a journalist, author and commentator. Working at The Telegraph, as well as local newspapers and TV in his native Scotland, he moved to the BBC and then to The Times as a columnist, leader writer and Assistant Editor. He is the author of acclaimed books including a biography of Michael Portillo, and analyses of the Northern Ireland peace process and of Islamist terrorism.
Michael’s remarkable career and his record as a notable reformer positions him perfectly to speak on the topic of Transforming Tradition, which is the theme of this year’s Academic Conference.
Read more about the Academic Conference here.
Mr Matt Godfrey
godfreym@downehouse.net
