Michael Gove will today pledge a £1 billion increase to the schools’ budget, in an effort to redeem himself among teachers. 

The former education secretary and Conservative leadership candidate will say that he will restore the amount of money spent per pupil to 2015 levels.

Quick read: Gove reforms ‘have created a two-tier system’

Opinion: Gove, Morgan, Greening, Hinds: should any of them be PM?

Background: Michael Gove: Top quotes

Mr Gove was so unpopular among teachers, educationists and parents during his time as education secretary, from 2010 to 2014, that he was demoted in order not to jeopardise the Conservatives’ chances in a general election. 

But The Mail on Sunday reports that his budget pledge has earned him the endorsement of Nicky Morgan, his successor as education secretary. 

Backing the campaign of Mr Gove, who has been environment secretary since 2017, Ms Morgan told the newspaper: “You have got him as a former education secretary, me as a former education secretary - education absolutely has to be at the total heart of the Conservative government’s policies going forward.’

She added: “I followed Michael into the Department for Education. I absolutely know what it takes to turn a department around, to make it deliver and Michael has done that in successive departments.

“In Number 10 now, you want someone with a real track record of delivery, and I think Michael absolutely has to be the strongest person.”