Michael Gove admits to having been a Labour Party member and even campaigning at election

Gove added that he knew he was interested in politics as debating was his "principal school activity."

In an interview with The Telegraph, Gove spoke about his early life growing up in an adopted family as well as his love for 80s pop music.

He said: "They knew I was interested in political ideas and ideology, and most of all debating, which was my principal school activity.

"I joined the Labour Party as a 16-year-old, and canvassed for the Aberdeen North MP, which was then a safe Labour seat, and in the 1983 general election I stood as the Labour candidate in the school election."

The seat was held by former Shadow Transport Secretary and Chair of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement Robert Hughes.

Gove himself served as the Conservative MP for Surrey Heath from 2005 to 2024. He did not stand last year and the seat was lost to the Liberal Democrats' Al Pinkerton.

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Talking about his early life, Gove was adopted when he was four months old and attended the fee-paying boys’ independent day school Robert Gordon’s College when he turned 11.

He said: "I was upbraided for being cheeky, which was a consistent theme of my secondary education; most of the times I got into trouble was because of being 'cheeky', 'sarcastic', or 'a pain.'

While at school, he picked up a love of reading encouraged by his teacher Mike Duncan, who introduced him to Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music Of Time series.

However, he also opened up about his behaviour, even recently writing to his former French teacher, apologising for "being such a pain in the neck."

Gove became known for his appreciation of popular music, posting his appreciation for Brit Award-winning rapper Stormzy, although he said: "[Stormzy] is a far, far better rapper than he is a political analyst" responding to his outspoken support for then-Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

When deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner was being criticised for being caught on film dancing in an Ibiza nightclub, Gove came to her defence, saying: "Rayner is absolutely not my political cup of tea (or even my political glass of Sangria) but all right-wingers criticising her for dancing in Ibiza need to lighten up.

"I’m always glad when politicians take some time off and rest. Plus… she’s a pretty good dancer."

Speaking to The Telegraph, he said: "It was the 1980s and the music was great: BA Robertson, the Boomtown Rats, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, and the first party where I kissed a girl, to Heaven 17’s Temptation."