Michael Gove’s son Will spoke to his father on The Mail’s ‘The Apple & The Tree’ podcast about the difficulties of growing up sharing a surname with a high-profile politician.
Hosted by the Reverend Richard Coles, ‘The Apple & The Tree’ pits parents against their adult children to ask questions about their shared family history they’ve always wanted answered.
On this week’s episode, Will Gove, 20, told his dad Michael, 57, a former Cabinet minister and now Editor of the Spectator Magazine, about the ways his celebrity hindered him as a young adult.
‘I have been rejected from three pubs because of my surname’, Will revealed.
‘One of the times, my friend got me the opportunity to work there. I have done a trial shift, and they told me it was all fine.
Then, when they went to put my name on the payroll, the owner of the pub came into their company group chat and texted: ‘No Gove is working in a pub of mine.’
Will also recounted that his now best friend avoided him at school because of who his dad was.
He said that Gove’s role as Education minister at the time attracted the ire of other students.
During Gove’s tenure, GCSEs and A-level qualifications saw massive changes, the most noticeable being the switch in GCSE grading from a letter to a number system.
‘My best friend, we’ve been close for 7 years, but when we first met at school, we didn’t get on because of who you were.
‘I went to a state school, Holland Park in west London. When I first joined, there were a couple of people who had brothers and sisters in older years who were furious with you for changing the marking system.
‘My new best friend was told by his older brother: “Don’t make friends with this guy”. There were a couple of other uncomfortable moments like that in secondary school.
‘People would come up to me in the playground and say, “What’s your dad done now?” or they’d call you a Tory or posh or whatever.’
As he got older, Will said rumors started circulating at his school that his family was extremely wealthy due to his father’s status as a Conservative politician.
‘I remember people saying: ‘Oh, Will’s massively rich.’ If you’ve ever investigated parliamentary salaries, you’ll know that’s not the case.
‘When friends started coming back to our house, my first house party, for example, they were always surprised that it wasn’t all chandeliers everywhere.
‘Like Chequers, with butlers everywhere. It’s just a normal family house in London.’
Despite the negatives, Will reminisced on some of the amazing experiences he’s had via Michael’s connections and celebrity.
‘We both support the Scottish football team internationally and we were able to see them play England in the Euros.
‘We were able to go see Chelsea in the Champions League final in 2021 – that was an excellent day.
‘I always have tried to make the best out of everything – to look at the funny side of it.’
Search for ‘The Apple & The Tree’ wherever you get your podcasts now. Every Thursday a new celebrity family will be put under the spotlight.