On Wednesday evening, as Boris Johnson’s administration was collapsing, the British prime minister called an old adversary.
Johnson’s personal rivalry with Michael Gove was forged at Oxford in the 1980s and played out as they rose through the ranks at Westminster. Now they were fighting over the fate of the government.
That morning Gove had urged Johnson to accept that a slew of resignations prompted by yet another scandal meant he had to step down. Expecting the prime minister was calling to concede defeat a few hours later, Gove asked if he was resigning.