Michael Gove: a face for radio but should he be on the BBC?

Under Johnson, the system has changed. From now on, explained the former Prime Minister, everything had to go through Michael Gove. It was as if Gove, being a Scot and a difficult customer at that, was the only one Boris trusted to keep these rebellious Scots on his doorstep.

So Scottish Government ministers were then told by civil servants that they had been ruled, which was good for Humza as the two men got on well.

Another meaning has emerged recently, following the new show/podcast. Today, being governed means being angered by the news that the former Tory minister has landed another choice job.

He was first appointed editor of the Spectator. This was irritating enough for Gove's enemies. But now he has only gone and taken the BBC shilling. Since the BBC is license-funded, that means you and I now pay his salary. No one asked us if we wanted it, and ultimately we can be jailed if we withhold our payment in protest (and don't pay court fines).

Many people are unhappy with this situation and have complained on social media. Others waited until they heard the first episode, an encounter with Peter Mandelson, and then became apoplectic. What tipped the scales was Gove complaining about people being sarcastic about his wife, journalist Sarah Vine, after she sent an email about Gove's professional maneuvers at the wrong address and that it was leaked to the media. Today such a fox's paw would be called making a Kuenssberg, but back then (2016) we were all too busy laughing to invent new phrases.

Read more by Alison Rowat

Well, aren't we ashamed now that we're told the episode caused a lot of harm and embarrassment? I'm sure that's the case. Yet, as many have pointed out, throughout his long career as a columnist, Vine wrote hurtful things about others. So it seems more than a little hypocritical of Gove to cry foul when she's the one getting the cream pie. Gove likes to say that no one is a conscript in politics. The same goes for journalism, as he well knows.

In his defense, Gove was a good journalist and a friendly puppy. Talk to people who worked with him in newspapers and on television and they will have fond memories of the young Gove. Funny and intelligent, he was not an unpleasant chancellor like Boris Johnson.

Fast forward and add to Goves' CV all those years at Westminster, and he would seem the perfect candidate to have his own radio show about politics. So why complain? That's partly because Gove is the latest in a line of former MPs to take a job in television, a job that offers almost as many privileges as being an MP (see the Balls-Cooper trip to see Taylor Swift).

Michael Portillo reinvented himself with a TV job, going from obnoxious Thatcherite to cuddly, shiny-pants travel guide. Penny Mordaunt will surely be next to be given a show. His swordsmanship skills cannot be lost to the nation.

There may be another reason why the Goves program hasn't been so successful: it's the latest in a very long line of podcasts. Technically it's a show since it's broadcast on the radio at a set time, but it's essentially another podcast, available at any time if you want to listen to it via the internet (BBC Sounds ).

You might be thinking that there are enough podcasts out there already, especially in the political genre. News that younger audiences like them has further flooded the market, as have rumors about the salaries of star animators. No mention of The Rest is Politics starring Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart is complete without the claim that they earn a million a year each.

No wonder it's boom time in podcast town. As if to prove that this is the new rock and roll/weight loss move, The Rest is Politics have just completed a tour of UK arenas, including the SEC in Glasgow.

Yet we know what usually follows a boom. Could Gove be the push that gets listeners to open their windows and declare that they're bored as hell with all these podcasts and aren't going to take any more?

I have no doubt that there is a market for politics as a branch of show business. Anyone who has been lucky enough to attend one of Tony Benn's shows knows this. I went to a lunch session in Glasgow that didn't end until dinner time because there were so many people wanting to ask questions. Look at the demand for tickets in Edinburgh this year for politically themed interviews (which later became podcasts).

Is it a coincidence that podcasts have thrived in a time of political chaos and uncertainty? If so, what is their role in calmer but potentially more dangerous times? Are they simply one part of the political elite talking to another and telling them what they want to hear? As such, are they widening divisions within society, making us even more of a country of the information haves and have-nots? Someone should make a podcast about podcasts. Oh wait, they already did that.

After listening to two of the five episodes of the Goves series, I'm convinced that we haven't heard the last of him, regardless of the outcry on social media about his show/podcast. However, next time it might be more enlightening for Gove to interview one of those so-called ordinary people whose lives were directly affected by his political choices. A small businessman on Brexit, for example, or a teacher. I would listen to that. I'll start presenting the idea now, friends, and get back to you as soon as possible.