Former cabinet colleagues spend summer break together enjoying Wagner’s Ring Cycle and its stories of power and betrayal

For most politicians and newspaper editors, the August parliamentary recess is a welcome opportunity to take a break from Westminster intrigue.



But for Michael Gove and George Osborne it was something of a busman’s holiday as they attended a drama of epic proportions drawn out in unexpected twists of power and betrayal.

The former cabinet colleagues were photographed on Wednesday on a break visiting the famous opera festival in Bayreuth, Germany, where they have been taking in Wagner’s Ring Cycle – described by Classic FM as “the peak of operatic indulgence, excess and excellence”.

They may seem an unlikely pairing: once close friends, they were pitched against each other as figureheads on either side of the fiercely fought and often bitter EU referendum debate.

While it was reported last year after the vote that they planned to go away together, it was later claimed Osborne shelved the plans after pressure from Samantha Cameron. The Sun reported that the wife of the former prime minister David Cameron had told the previous chancellor: “It’s us or them.”

Both men may be more able to enjoy a break than they might have a year ago. In recent months, Gove – who fell from grace when he failed in his attempt to seize the leadership after dramatically turning on his ally Boris Johnson – has been buoyed by his return to the cabinet as environment secretary, while the former chancellor has been equally busy with a new pet project.

As the recently appointed editor of London freesheet the Evening Standard, the politician turned journalist has devoted countless column inches to criticising Theresa May and deriding the government’s Brexit strategy – which Gove has often defended.

The politics of Wagner's Ring Read more

Nonetheless, the pair appear to have renewed their relationship through a shared love of the German composer, whose epic masterpiece is played out in four operas.

They were photographed yesterday by fellow opera enthusiast John Hardy, a professor of neuroscience at University College London.

Despite being dressed in suits on holiday, both men appear relaxed in the photograph: Osborne’s tie is hanging loose around his open collar, while Gove, sporting a pair of braces, has slung his jacket over his back.

Hardy told the Guardian: “They seemed to be enjoying themselves and weren’t with anyone else. My wife saw them on Tuesday evening at the first stage and I saw them tonight.”

He added: “Part three is on Friday and part four Sunday. All tickets cover the four parts so I guess they’ll be around all week.”

A spokesman for Gove confirmed he was spending his holiday in Germany but gave no further details. It is not clear whether the two men’s families are also in Bayreuth.



The trip appears to renew something of a tradition: it is not the first time the opera buffs have gone to see the Ring Cycle together.

In 2012 Osborne, who has attended Wagner operas since he was a child, was criticised for taking time out of his schedule to attend the entire cycle at the Royal Opera House in Gove’s company, including one performance that began at 4pm on a weekday.