It appears that - not for the first time - Michael Gove may have a slight image problem. However, on this occasion, it is not his policies or comments that are under scrutiny, but his facial features. 

The portrait of Mr Gove (pictured above) was drawn by 13-year-old Josh, who chose the education secretary as his subject because “he has an interesting face”. 

Portraits of British MPs have been in the news this week after it was revealed that £250,000 of taxpayers’ money had been spent on artwork depicting politicians. In response to this, a competition has been launched to urge students to take up their pens, pencils or paintbrushes in a bid to prove that “a lick of Fisher Price paint or a freshly sharpened Crayola can easily do the job”.

Other politicians who have been immortalised in online gallery form include Mayor of London Boris Johnson, prime minister David Cameron and Labour MP Diane Abbott - who was chosen because of her alleged likeness to the artist’s hamster, Jessie J. 

Young at art: children’s portraits of (l-r) David Cameron, Iain Duncan Smith, Diane Abbott, Boris Johnson

Entries for the competition, which is being run by children’s education website iChild and online gaming website Moshi Monsters, are being accepted for two weeks from Monday 20 January; children wishing to enter need to draw an MP of their choice and explain why they chose them to draw.

The winning entry will win an all expenses trip to Moshi Monsters HQ for a full tour, with 10 runner ups receiving a Moshi Monsters goody bag. 

In the meantime, we here at TES Towers are waiting eagerly to see if Josh’s portrait gets its deserved place of honour at the Department for Education.

Find out more and enter the competition.