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Michael Gove has admitted to taking cocaine in the past, saying he has "deep regrets" about using the drug.

In the midst of a Tory leadership election, Prime Minister hopeful Gove said he used the substance while working as a young journalist 20 years ago.

Speaking to the Mail , Gove, 51, said: "I took drugs on several occasions at social events more than 20 years. At the time I was a young journalist.

"It was a mistake. I look back and I think I wish I hadn't done that.

"It was 20 years ago and yes, it was a mistake. But I don’t believe that past mistakes disqualify you."

The bombshell confession comes ahead of the publication of a book by political journalist Owen Bennett.

Mr Gove, who as Tory Chief Whip from 2014-15 was responsible for party discipline, became the latest Conservative running to become Prime Minister to reveal their drugs shame.

Eton-educated Rory Stewart, who was Prisons Minister before becoming International Development Secretary, last week admitted smoking opium at a wedding in Iran.

(Image: Leon Neal)

“I think it was a very stupid mistake and I did it 15 years ago, and I actually went on in Iran to see the damage that opium was doing to communities,” Mr Stewart, 46, a former private tutor to Princes William and Harry, said.

“It was something that was very wrong, I made a stupid mistake.”

Earlier, another rival for No10, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, said he once drank a cannabis lassi.

Boris Johnson confirmed in 2008 he snorted cocaine when he was 19 and studying at Oxford, and smoked “dope” before that.

David Cameron got into trouble at Eton after admitting smoking cannabis, it was claimed in 2007.

But he repeatedly refused to confirm whether he tried harder drugs, only saying: “I had a normal university experience.”

Gove, secretary of state for the environment and farming, is currently at 5/1 odds of taking the Prime Minister's spot.

After starting out as a journalist, Michael Gove became Conservative MP for Surrey Heath in 2005.

He was one of the main supporters of the leave campaign in the 2016 EU referendum . He said the country was "fed up of experts".

Following the result he surprised his friend Boris Johnson by running in the Tory leadership race, which he consequently lost.

Earlier this week, Gove has admitted he could delay Brexit beyond October 31 if he becomes the next Prime Minister.

He said he would not crash out with No Deal for the sake of it if a deal was in sight.

That would be "giving up on progress", he declared.

The announcement drives a major divide between Mr Gove and Boris Johnson - his arch-rival to be Britain's next Prime Minister.

Frontrunner Mr Johnson, along with Dominic Raab, Esther McVey and Andrea Leadsom, has vowed to leave the EU deal or no deal on October 31.

But other Tories including Jeremy Hunt, Rory Stewart and Matt Hancock want a renegotiation with the EU.

Mr Gove wrote in the Daily Mail: "If, finally, it comes to a decision between No Deal and No Brexit , I will choose No Deal."

But he added: "If we make the progress I know we can and we are on the cusp of a better deal which works for Britain, would it really be in our best interests to opt for a No Deal exit when just a little more time and effort could make all the difference?

"I would not give up on the progress made."