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DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Well now, the Home Secretary Theresa May looks to be surging ahead in the Conservative leadership race with the backing of 60% of Conservative voters according to a new poll.  Michael Gove’s hopes of becoming the next leader seem to have been dented by accusations of betrayal after he was seen to pull the rug out from under Boris Johnson.  Well I am joined now by the Conservative former Chief Whip and Minister, Andrew Mitchell, he’s in the Midlands, a very good morning to you Mr Mitchell.  What do you make of this characterisation in some parts of Michael Gove as some kind of Machiavellian political psychopath?

ANDREW MITCHELL: Well I think we have to move on from recent events.  I know all five of the candidates well, I have worked very closely with four of them, I think all of them are outstanding in their different ways but I will be voting for Michael Gove and the reason is this: the next Prime Minister is going to inherit what is probably the most difficult wicket any Prime Minister has inherited, certainly since Suez and probably since 1940 and it is going to require quite remarkable characteristics.  I think with the best will in the world, it is very hard to see how a non-Brexiteer can successfully fulfil that role.  It’s not impossible but if you look at the current situation where half of the country have voted to leave, more than half the Conservative party has voted to leave and I think it would defy belief not to have in the final two who are put to the entire Conservative membership someone who believes firmly and strongly in the decision which the country has made. The other reason I shall vote for Michael Gove is because I think the biggest issue in British politics today apart from Europe is social mobility.  Social mobility in our country has gone backwards in recent years, it is urgent for the good health of the Conservative party quite apart from for the future of our country to address these issues of social mobility and I think that Michael Gove has shown himself nothing short of superb in the actions he has taken.  I think about the reforms he has been making as Justice Secretary to prisons, that is an agenda which is incredibly important for our country’s future.

DM: Do you think there are any question marks about his character which may well come up, should he win this, may well come up in a general election after he seems to have betrayed his friend in the current Prime Minister, Mr Cameron and then done it to Boris Johnson as well?  

ANDREW MITCHELL: I think in both instances you see clear evidence of Michael Gove putting his country first.  Many people in the Conservative party have urged him over the years to consider standing for Prime Minister and a natural reticence has held him back but the fact is, cometh the time cometh the man and given where we are today, given this appallingly difficult wicket, given the social policy priorities in Britain, we look a very divided nation at the moment and I think Michael Gove has the character and the capabilities to lead this country at an extraordinarily difficult time.  

DM: What do you think though about the argument, Mr Mitchell, for get on with it?  The country needs effective leadership, it needs reassurance, it needs direction and it needs to open firm lines of communication with so many elements of the European Union and the Conservative party could speed this process up, certainly in getting it down to the last two?

ANDREW MITCHELL: Well I think it’s essential that two Members of Parliament are put before the entire Conservative membership in the country and it is essential for whoever wins.  They are going to need to have the authority of a vote which clearly shows that they are the person the Conservative party wants to lead them. We don’t want a sort of Gordon Brown coronation which I think would be a disaster and the Conservative party and the country would feel cheated too at a very difficult time in our country’s history. I  think the Conservative members want to see the two candidates, have a chance to think about them and then to move forward so I think a coronation would be a truly disastrous idea.  

DM: And if it isn’t your man, if it is the frontrunner Theresa May, are you saying there would be a feeling amongst you, amongst others in the Conservative party because of the side she was on in the referendum campaign, when it comes to those negotiations her heart wasn’t really in it?

ANDREW MITCHELL: No, I think that both Theresa and Michael are outstanding candidates and I think either of them will do a job with success but I think that it is extraordinarily difficult, if you roll the clock forward and imagine someone who like me was a Remainer, I voted for Remain and didn’t want to see us leave the European Union but I think if you roll the clock forward and see a British Prime Minister coming back with what is going to be an incredibly difficult deal to achieve and saying this is the best that we can do, it seems to me quite hard for a Remainer to carry the country with them on that.  We know that Michael Gove is the most senior Brexiteer left in this contest, he is someone who has believed in this and thought about it for many, many years.  I think he has the quality of leadership to negotiate what is an extraordinarily difficult deal and as I say, with the best will in the world, inevitably for someone who does not believe in Brexit to go and negotiate now on behalf of the mandate they’ve been given by the country and indeed the Conservative party, it is extraordinarily difficult to see how someone can do that without believing in it.

DM: Andrew Mitchell, thank you very much indeed for your time.