Michael Gove failed to declare football hospitality, watchdog finds

Minister for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove (PA)

Michael Gove has apologised for failing to register VIP hospitality he enjoyed at three football matches between 2020 and 2022.

The Communities Secretary had been placed under investigation in February after he disclosed the hospitality provided by Queens Park Rangers following a report in The Guardian that he had failed to register the gifts.

In a letter to the Standards Commissioner, Mr Gove said this had been “due to an oversight on my part” and offered his “profuse apologies”.

In a report published on Monday, Standards Commissioner Daniel Greenberg found Mr Gove had breached Commons rules by failing to declare the hospitality within 28 days.

He also found a similar breach relating to Mr Gove’s late declaration of his position as a governor of the Ditchley Foundation, a charity which, he said, “works with people across the world to help sustain peace, freedom and order”.

However, Mr Greenberg noted that the breaches “could be fairly described as being minor in nature” and therefore proposed no further penalty.

A spokesman for the Surrey Heath MP said: “Mr Gove has thanked the Parliamentary Commissioner for his speedy investigation and accepts his clear ruling which now closes this matter.

“He would like to repeat his apologies for the failure to register the interests at the appropriate time.”

Reports in February claimed the minister had been hosted by Conservative donor David Meller, whose firm he had referred to officials after an offer of help providing personal protective equipment (PPE) during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Amit Bhatia in the stands at Queens Park Rangers (PA)

But Mr Gove’s entry in the MPs’ Register of Interests shows the tickets and hospitality as coming from QPR itself, while his letter to the Standards Commissioner said his attendance at the three matches had been “at the invitation of the QPR directors and the club’s chairman Amit Bhatia”.

In each case, Mr Gove said he had received two tickets, attending the games with his son.

One pair, worth £650, was for a game against Leeds United in January 2020, while the other two pairs were both worth £552 and included games against Millwall in August 2021 and Reading in January 2022.