He is seen as a likely successor to the editor of The Times, Peter Stothard.

Last week Mr Gove wrote a controversial article in The Times profiling Amanda Platell, William Hague's media strategy chief. He wrote: "As an election approaches, the party's glamorous media chief has become a liability," and describes her has "not without talent or charm, but . . . out of her depth in a front-line political role".

Mr Gove wrote an admiring biography entitled Michael Portillo: The Future of the Right which was published in 1995. The updated version - Michael Portillo - was published last year.

Last December Michael Gove was amongst those included in a book, The Best of The Times, on the finest writing for The Times.

A review of his piece on Tony Blair's "wobbly summer" describes it as "the kind of penetrating, steely analysis that makes him such a scary performer and unmissable."