Gove has never been known for his Midas touch – earlier this year he sold the former marital home he shared with Sarah Vine for £400,000 less than its estimated value – so the board of trustees at Dorneywood were no doubt quietly relieved when he lately stepped down as a member last September.
Now Gove has gone, the value of the investments of the Dorneywood Trust has increased by £933,000. Its holdings were worth £10,944,115 in December 2021. The accounts, signed off last month, revealed the upturn in the Trust’s fortunes began when Gove left and the stock market began its post-pandemic recovery.
This time last year I disclosed that the value of the trust that runs the ministerial property – recent residents include Philip Hammond, Sajid Javid and currently Rishi Sunak – had plummeted by £715,000 since Boris Johnson appointed Gove to the board in 2020.
