Michael Gove is one of the 11 Tory MPs currently in the running to become Prime Minister after Theresa May announced she will step down after failing to deliver on Brexit in over two years of negotiations. Discussing her husband’s campaign for the top job, columnist Sarah Vine suggested she would not like to be dubbed “First Lady” if she had to relocate to Number 10. Speaking to Emma Barnett on BBC Radio 5 Live, Ms Vine said: “I don’t like the term first lady.

“I think it’s a bit over the top.”

When Ms Barnett suggested the alternative title “spouse in Number 10,’ the British columnist hit back with a proposal of her own: “Old bag at Number 10?”

The pair erupted into giggles before putting their conversation back on track. Ms Vine revealed her husband is “working hard” to win the support of colleagues in the Conservative Party and emerge as the winner of the Tory leadership contest.

She continued: “I don’t think he is stressed about it, he’s just working hard.

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“There are lots and lots of people running, like the Grand National.”

While the race for Number 10 has yet to officially open, as Theresa May is set to step down on June 7, one Cabinet Minister claimed the real contest is now between Mr Gove and fellow contender Boris Johnson.

Speaking to The Sun, the minister said: “The first thing the new PM will have to do is ask for an extension.

“Only Boris or Gove could carry that off.

“Everyone now believes it will be Boris against Michael – the contest really that we should have had 3 years ago. It’s like time has stood still.”

Other Tory MPs agreed the Environment Secretary was gaining ground among those who had been leaning toward Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

A former Cabinet minister said: “Gove is the coming figure for centrist MPs who don’t want to go the whole hog and back someone like Matt Hancock.”

Brussels hopes that the future Prime Minister will be able to sell Michael Barnier’s commitments to MPs by setting a number of deadlines in the joint search for alternative arrangements.

The negotiations will likely fall under the watchful eye of Mr Barnier’s deputy, Sabine Weyand, who was made the EU’s most senior trade official this week.

In the wide-ranging interview, Mr Barnier blamed Brexit on “typically British reasons”, including “hope for a return to a powerful global Britain, nostalgia for the past”.

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