Michael Gove, a leading figure in British Conservatism for more than three decades, joined Aditya Chakrabortty on the latest episode of Radical Thinking to discuss the future of the right, his record on Brexit and austerity, and the Spectator’s position on Islam. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.

As a journalist, government minister and now editor of the Tory bible, the Spectator, Gove has helped shape the right even as it has moved further rightwards. In the podcast, he discussed the future of the right, his record on Brexit and austerity, and the Spectator’s position on Islam.

The podcast is presented by Aditya Chakrabortty with Michael Gove, produced by Frankie Tobi and Luke John Smith; the executive producers are Maz Ebtehaj, Kirsty Major and James Tindale. The episode was published on Saturday 17 October 2026.

Aditya’s suggested reading:

  • 01To read the fruits of Michael Gove’s dalliance with the Marxism Today gang, look up his essay in a 1998 collection called The Moderniser’s Dilemma: Radical Politics in the Age of Blair.
  • 02For a slalom ride through Michael Gove’s years in power, read The Demented Dalek by the historian Richard J Evans in the London Review of Books.
  • 03To learn more on what’s become of the British right, there’s a column by me for the Guardian.
  • 04Just why the most successful political party is now failing is analysed in-depth by Phil Burton-Cartledge in his book The Party’s Over: The Rise and Fall of the Conservatives from Thatcher to Sunak.
  • 05Phil also writes a very good blog on British politics, which keeps a close eye on how each party is trying to marshall a coalition of voters. Here he is on Kemi Badenoch.
  • 06Geoffrey Wheatcroft does an entertaining short narrative in Bloody Panico!.
  • 07For more on the economics of the Cameron years, this paper is acute on how the Tories failed to move the UK away from being a country of renters towards a country of makers. Two of its authors will join us for a podcast later in the series.
  • 08And if you want to read how Brexit may have cost the UK 8% of GDP, there’s this paper based on data from the Bank of England.
  • 09Finally, on the Spectator read Nesrine Malik’s recent column in The Guardian.

Why has Britain’s oldest political magazine become such a rabid cheerleader for Islamophobia?