Michael Gove would not change his mind over Europe even if Margaret Thatcher rose from her grave to force him into a U-turn, his wife has said.
Journalist Sarah Vine, who has been married to the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice since 2001, said he had been “locked in an internal struggle of agonising proportions” over his decision.
But the life-long Aberdonian Eurosceptic chose his “own heartfelt beliefs” over “loyalty to his old friend, the Prime Minister”, she said in her Daily Mail column.
“It was never going to be easy. But neither of us had any idea it would be such torture either. Mr Cameron was expecting opposition from all sorts of people, but not from Michael,” she wrote.
The former Education Secretary declared he was backing the “leave” campaign on Saturday, along with fellow Cabinet ministers Iain Duncan Smith, Chris Grayling, Theresa Villiers and John Whittingdale.
Ms Vine, who described his decision-making period as a “nightmare” said: “It was clear that No 10 were very keen indeed to swing Michael’s vote in their favour. But it was not to be.”
The Prime Minister was “shocked and hurt” when Mr Gove told him that he would not support his renegotiation deal, she said.
Despite the two politicians’ disagreement, she said she had never known her husband to change his mind and added: “Baroness Thatcher herself could rise from her grave to tell him to get back in his box, and still he wouldn’t.”
The columnist also described the dinner at Marina Wheeler and Boris Johnson’s home that she and her husband were photographed leaving last week, as “surreal”.
She said the two women and fellow guest, Evening Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev, tried to enjoy the meal while Mr Johnson and Mr Gove spoke to a lawyer and a Cabinet minister on speakerphone about the complexities of sovereignty law.