Gove backs Sunak and says Truss is ‘taking holiday from reality’

Former cabinet minister says he does not expect to return to frontbench politics as he backs underdog in race to be PM

Michael Gove has thrown his support behind Rishi Sunak in the Conservative leadership contest, warning that Liz Truss's refusal to offer more support over rising energy bills and to just focus on tax cuts marked a holiday from reality".

In a sometimes hard-hitting article in the Times, Gove said he did not expect to be made a minister again and that many people expected Truss to win, but he believes Sunak makes the right arguments".