Brighton Pavilion parliamentary candidate Clarence Mitchell welcomed Chief Whip Michael Gove today (Friday 9 January).
Mr Mitchell praised his fellow Conservative who served as Education Secretary for four years.
He said that Mr Gove met party members in Hove and added: “I warmly welcome Michael to Brighton and Hove and I am very grateful for his support for my campaign.
“Michael is one of the most radical, forward-thinking ministers we have had in years.
“Michael’s recent record as Secretary of State for Education driving up standards in our schools and championing best practice teaching methods is exemplary and proves he isn’t shy of doing the right thing.
“He can be proud of his achievements in the face of often vociferous opposition.
“Michael and I are also both former newspaper correspondents so I was very pleased to welcome a fellow journalist to the city.”
Before entering Parliament in 2005 Mr Gove worked for local and national newspapers, radio and TV.
He reported on issues as diverse as EU corruption in Brussels and the threat to small businesses from red tape as well as championing the victims of crime.
At The Times he worked closely with Frances Lawrence, widow of the murdered headmaster Philip Lawrence, to fight street crime and its causes.
Frances Lawrence’s campaign succeeded in establishing an award scheme for good citizenship among the young and influencing legislation to ban combat knives.
Mr Mitchell worked as a journalist for more than 20 years. He started his career by covering the former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as a reporter on the Hendon and Finchley Times in London.
He then joined the BBC as a local radio reporter in 1986, going on to become a regional BBC television reporter and then a national BBC news correspondent and presenter.
He later joined the Civil Service and worked in Whitehall for the Cabinet Office before moving into the public affairs sector in 2007.
Well, that is the end of Clarence then! I don’t think Pavilion is a happy hunting ground for a full on swivel eyed Grove admirer.
Why no mention of him giving up his post as head of the government press office, to be PR spokesman for Kate and Gerry McCann.
Surly that’s an honourable thing to do. Or is it spending £10 of taxpayers money to not find what happened, not something to shout about. And while we’re here Clarence can you give any details how the McCanns repaid the fund for the payments made on their mortgage. You’ve told us they did so it must be true.