Michael Gove and his wife Sarah Vine announce divorce after 20 years of marriage

Michael Gove and his wife Sarah Vine are finalising their divorce
Getty Images
Lily Waddell3 July 2021

Michael Gove and his wife Sarah Vine have announced their divorce.

They have been married for 20 years since they tied the knot in 2001. They have two children.

Tory Cabinet Office Minister Gove, 53, and journalist Vine, 54, went public with their separation on Friday.

A statement on behalf of the couple said: “Michael and Sarah have agreed to separate and they are in the process of finalising their divorce.

“They will continue to support their two children and they remain close friends. The family politely ask for privacy at this time and will not be providing any further comment.”

A friend of the couple said the split was amicable and their priority remains the children.

It’s said the couple had “drifted apart” over the last few years.

Michael Gove and Sarah Vine
They have been married for 20 years since they tied the knot in 2001
PA

The friend told PA: “This is a difficult and sad decision for Michael and Sarah after 20 years of marriage.

“It is an entirely amicable separation and there is no-one else involved. They have drifted apart over the past couple of years but they remain friends.

“Their absolute priority is the children.”

Michael Gove and Sarah Vine
The Cabinet Office Minister has two kids with Sarah
PA

Gove and Vine first fell in love when they both worked as journalists on the Times newspaper in 1999.

Just two years after their first meeting, they tied the knot.

They went on to become one of the most high-profile couples in Wesminister circles.

A friend of the couple said the split was amicable and their priority remains the children
AFP via Getty Images

Recently, columnist Sarah said Matt Hancock’s affair with Gina Coladangelo was “entirely predictable” because marriages suffer when one partner works in politics.

She wrote: “The problem with the wife who has known you since way before you were king of the world is that she sees through your façade… She knows that, deep down inside, you are not the Master of the Universe you purport to be.”

Columnist Sarah said Matt Hancock’s affair with Gina Coladangelo was “entirely predictable”
AFP via Getty Images

In her Mail On Sunday column, she added: “Ministers are surrounded by people telling them how brilliant they are. Their departments treat them like feudal barons. Their every whim is treated as law. No one ever says No to them.

“How can anyone be expected to put the bins out when they’ve just got home from a day saving the world? Domestic life can seem dull and dispiriting by comparison. And so, they begin to avoid it. It doesn’t take a huge leap of imagination to see how you can go from being happily married to the kind of person who gets caught so unfortunately on CCTV.”

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