The confession by Environment Secretary Michael Gove that he took cocaine "on several occasions" has again shone the spotlight on past drug use by leading politicians.

The Tory leadership contender has said he "deeply regrets" using the illicit substance two decades ago, but he is not alone.

Image: Environment Secretary Michael Gove has confessed to taking cocaine

Boris Johnson, the favourite to succeed Mrs May as Conservative leader and prime minister, gave an account of his experience of cocaine while appearing on TV show "Have I Got News For You" in 2005.

"I think I was once given cocaine but I sneezed and so it did not go up my nose," he said.



"In fact, I may have been doing icing sugar."

He later told GQ magazine in 2007: "I tried it at university and I remember it vividly.



"And it achieved no pharmacological, psychotropic or any other effect on me whatsoever."


Image: Boris Johnson said he once 'sneezed' when given cocaine

Asked about those previous comments in a 2008 interview, when he was standing for Mayor of London, Mr Johnson said: "Well, that was when I was 19.



"It all goes to show that, sometimes, it's better not to say anything."



Following that interview, Mr Johnson said days later: "To say that I have taken cocaine is simply untrue."



He added: "As I have said many times, I was once at university offered a white substance, none of which went up my nose and I have no idea whether it was cocaine or not."

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Asked about his previous comments on drugs in a 2008 interview, when he was standing for Mayor of London, Mr Johnson said: "Well, that was when I was 19. It all goes to show that, sometimes, it's better not to say anything."

Following that interview, Mr Johnson said days later: "To say that I have taken cocaine is simply untrue."

He added: "As I have said many times, I was once at university offered a white substance, none of which went up my nose and I have no idea whether it was cocaine or not."

Image: Rory Stewart, secretary of state for international development, has smoked opium

International Development Secretary Rory Stewart has apologised for smoking opium at a wedding in Iran.

Speaking to Sky News last week, Mr Stewart admitted to making a "very stupid mistake" 15 years ago, and said he "went to Iran to see the damage that opium was doing to communities."

He added: "I've seen it as a prisons minister. It was something that was very wrong, I made a stupid mistake."

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Mr Stewart insisted it "had no effect" on him "because I was walking 25-30 miles a day".

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said he might have once tried cannabis in his youth, telling The Times "I think I had a cannabis lassi (drink) when I went backpacking through India."

He cheekily added that it was "almost as naughty as wheatfields" in a dig at his beleaguered leader's "guilty moment"'.

Image: Esther McVey said she 'tried some pot' when she was 'much younger'

Former work and pensions secretary Esther McVey has admitted she smoked cannabis.

The Tory leadership contender said had "tried some pot" when she was "much younger".

In the wake of Mr Gove's admission, ex-leader of the House of Commons and leadership rival Andrea Leadsom told The Independent: "I have never taken cocaine or Class A drugs.

"Everyone is entitled to a private life before becoming an MP. I smoked weed at university and have never smoked it again since."

Image: Dominic Raab admitted to smoking cannabis

Dominic Raab previously said he smoked cannabis as a student, adding he had not taken anything harder. He said: "At university, I tried cannabis, not very often as I was into sport. It was a mistake, particularly the more I know now about the link between it and mental health issues.

"But it was a long time ago and was particularly few and far between and I have never taken cocaine or any class A drugs."

Image: Sajid Javid is critical of those who take Class A drugs

Home Secretary Sajid Javid says he has not used drugs, and criticised those who take class A substances. He told Sky News: "Anyone that takes class A drugs needs to think about that supply chain that comes, let's say, from Colombia to Chelsea, and the number of lives that are destroyed along the way."

Meanwhile, a source close to Health Secretary Matt Hancock told The Telegraph he "tried cannabis a few times as a student but has not taken any illicit drugs since".

Image: Matt Hancock tried cannabis

Image: Mark Harper denies taking drugs

Candidate Mark Harper, a former chief whip, said he had not done any drugs.

Sam Gyimah, who pulled out of the leadership race minutes before the candidates were officially declared, told Sky News earlier on Monday that he had never taken drugs, lightly joking: "It's not my particular vice. I've never done it."

Image: Sam Gyimah says he is more concerned about the impact drugs have on communities

He added: "I think the broader and more serious debate that we need to be having is that this doesn't become an issue in which say for a privileged elite there are different rules when actually, as a former prisons minister, I know the impact it has on communities, gang culture and all of that.

"That is the debate I would like to be having in the context of this race, beyond Brexit there are many social issues... that we haven't begun to address."

The current crop of leadership candidates have, then, been open about their drugs use, but former Conservative prime minister David Cameron took a different tack.

While running for Tory leader in 2005 (with Gove a member of his team), the future PM was asked at a party conference fringe meeting whether he had taken drugs at university.

Image: David Cameron said politicians deserve a private life

"I had a normal university experience. "There were things that I did then that I don't think that I should talk about now I'm a politician."

Later, on the BBC's debate show Question Time, he was asked if he thought that drug-taking at university is "all part of an ordinary university experience?", in modern-day Britain.

Mr Cameron was applauded for replying that politicians deserved a private life before entering politics.

Image: George Osborne denied accusations he took drugs

His close friend and former chancellor George Osborne, on the other hand, has taken a firmer approach.

The current editor of the Evening Standard was forced to deny taking drugs after newspapers printed a picture of him with his arm around a woman described as a "cocaine-snorting hooker".

Mr Osborne suggested he was the victim of a "smear campaign", adding: "The allegations are completely untrue, and dredging up a photo from when I was 22 years old is pretty desperate stuff."

In 2007, several ministers in Gordon Brown's government, including chancellor Alistair Darling, home secretary Jacqui Smith and deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman, admitted using cannabis in their youth.

Image: Yvette Cooper said she tried cannabis at university

Yvette Cooper, then minister for housing, said cannabis use at university was "something that I have left behind" while Andy Burnham, now Mayor of Greater Manchester, admitted smoking the drug.

Image: Bill Clinton smoked 'but did not inhale' while trying a joint

In 1992, US presidential hopeful Bill Clinton famously said he tried marijuana while at Oxford University but "didn't inhale".

Image: Barack Obama admitted to taking cannabis and cocaine

The remark has been lampooned many times, including by then senator Barack Obama in 2006, who said: "When I was a kid, I inhaled ... that was the point".

Mr Obama also admitted to using "a little blow" (cocaine) in his first book Dreams From My Father.