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Grace Dent: Gove's ‘hot sex’ and the city

It’s refreshing that a politician recognises the murky, lusty, reasons behind many of the business decisions being made in the capital

Grace Dent
Monday 07 April 2014 14:38 BST
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Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education arrives on Downing Street ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting on February 4, 2014 in London, England.
Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education arrives on Downing Street ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting on February 4, 2014 in London, England.

Oscar Wilde once said - and I agree - that “everything in the world is about sex, except sex, which is about power”. I didn’t expect Michael Gove to support me on this matter but his comments at a recent cabinet meeting apparently left Joanne Shields, UK Ambassador for Digital Industries, clutching her pearls.

On the matter of why young businessmen and women come to London, Gove said that it is “not so much the hi-tech opportunities” that provide the capital’s big attraction, but rather: “[The] great opportunities to be successful, enjoy a great culture, and to have a good time and loads of hot sex”.

It’s refreshing that a politician recognises the murky, lusty, reasons behind many of the business decisions being made in the capital. I often listen to friends’ hair-brained schemes, world-dominating plans, and life-changing decisions and ask the question, “Hang on - is there a man or a woman you want to sleep with at the bottom of this story?” The answer is inevitably yes.

The heart - and genitals - simply want what they want. Gove’s next step might be to provide tax breaks and golden handshakes for excessively sexually attractive staff who can lure foreign talent to the capital purely by a flirty email, some slightly forward end-of-correspondence kisses, or by catching someone’s eye at a conference. Or at very least, Gove should maybe look into increased access to the morning-after pill in the vicinity of the Old Street Silicon Roundabout.

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