{"id":513804,"date":"2026-04-05T07:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T07:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/513804\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T07:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T07:01:10","slug":"michael-gove-admits-searching-for-gorgeous-shabana-mahmood-images-as-ex-minister-reveals-crush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/513804\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Gove admits searching for \u2018gorgeous\u2019 Shabana Mahmood images as ex-minister reveals crush"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Gove has admitted he has a \u201ccrush\u201d on Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, revealing he has searched online for images of the senior Labour figure.<\/p>\n

The former Conservative cabinet minister made the candid remarks during an appearance on BBC Radio 4\u2019s Matt Forde Focus Group.<\/p>\n

When asked whether his admiration was political or personal, Mr Gove replied: \u201cBoth\u201d.<\/p>\n

He went on to describe Ms Mahmood as \u201cgorgeous\u201d and \u201cfantastic\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Gove also joked about his internet habits, suggesting his interest extended beyond Westminster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she’s gorgeous. I do worry, though, that if Shabana Mahmood had access to my browsing history, she would discover that quite a lot of my browsing is me typing in ‘Shabana Mahmood images’ or ‘Shabana Mahmood history’,\u201d he told listeners.<\/p>\n

The ex-Housing Secretary went on to describe himself as a “huge fan”.<\/p>\n

He joked: \u201cI\u2019ll have to tell my girlfriend about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Michael Gove described himself as a ‘huge fan’ of the Home Secretary<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

Mr Gove returned to journalism in 2024, becoming editor of The Spectator after leaving frontline politics in the aftermath of the last general election. <\/p>\n

His 20-year marriage to Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine ended in 2021, with the former couple sharing two children.<\/p>\n

Following the split, he was photographed appearing to kiss Oxford academic Dr Lola Salem, who is more than 25 years his junior.<\/p>\n

Ms Mahmood has served as Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood since 2010 and was appointed Home Secretary in September 2025.<\/p>\n

SHABANA MAHMOOD – READ THE LATEST:<\/p>\n

\"Shabana<\/p>\n

The ex-Tory minister said he believes Ms Mahmood is both ‘gorgeous’ and ‘fantastic’ <\/p>\n

| PA<\/p>\n

She has largely kept her personal life out of the spotlight.<\/p>\n

The Birmingham-born politician, whose parents emigrated from Kashmir in Pakistan, has often spoken about the importance of her Muslim faith.<\/p>\n

In a 2024 interview, she said: \u201cMy faith is the centre point of my life, and it drives me to public service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Gove has previously suggested Ms Mahmood could one day lead the Labour Party.<\/p>\n

\"Shabana<\/p>\n

Mr Gove has previously suggested Ms Mahmood could one day lead the Labour Party<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

He also interviewed her at Labour\u2019s 2025 conference, praising her defence of digital ID proposals as \u201cthe single best case that any Government minister has made for this policy\u201d.<\/p>\n

Since taking up her Cabinet role, Ms Mahmood has spearheaded the Government\u2019s illegal migration crackdown.<\/p>\n

She recently introduced the first phase of an immigration overhaul<\/a>, reducing temporary refugee protection from five years to 30 months.<\/p>\n

Under the proposals, adults – along with any children who arrived with them – will be expected to return to their home countries once they are deemed safe.<\/p>\n

The Home Office has drawn on Denmark\u2019s immigration system as a model for the reforms.<\/p>\n

Ms Mahmood previously said: \u201cThe reset in Britain\u2019s asylum offer, inspired by Denmark\u2019s success, will encourage those wishing to build a life in the UK to do so via legal routes, and reduce the pull factors driving illegal migration.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michael Gove has admitted he has a \u201ccrush\u201d on Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, revealing he has searched online…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,2053,121312,50,229,2331,56,44208,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-513804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-labour-party","11":"tag-michael-gove","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-politics","14":"tag-sgg","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-uk-politics","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}