Ok here's my take on Gove,....
He's not going to win the vote, so whatever I say is pointless, so please bear that in mind.
I've worked under the Gove regime in education for several years..
It was mixed. Why?
Well, mostly because he's a c*nt and doesn't listen to people. People need to be listened too with respect even if you think they are wrong, and he never took throne to do that.
On the flip side of the coin, he put in place a well though out and coherent plan for the future of education in this country (I'm not saying it was the right plan, but the education system was ripe for being refreshed). He also saw it through to fruition most effectively.
It was impressive that he used (mostly) facts and research to back his methodology up, and when he did back down, it was when the research he showed that he was wrong. He genuinely did want to raise educational standards for children, and he really did push for what he thought would achieve that. I look back at that and admire that. Currently the education secretary has no plan, no direction and doesn't really care about what she's doing.
Similarly at the department of justice Gove has put into place smart and effective changes to Grayling's diasterous tenure, and has realised that prison reform and rehabilitation are what reduces crime. Stopping crime is the point of prison and he's the first Tory justice minister to recognise that its not about punishment for .... Well, may be ever.
Ok, back to the down side.
He's a c*nt. Really, he didn't give a damn what anyone else said, he gave no time to listen. He was right and that was it. He wrote the English and History national curricula himself, and the history one was a disaster and had to be rewritten as a result. Who's ego is that massive that they would do that?
The collateral damage was also a huge issue. No funding was put into place to support his reforms, and changes were introduced far too quickly for people to manage the workload effectively. An example of the recent KS2 tests. They were sat for students that had started KS2 under a different national curriculum, so were a waste of time in many ways.
However, if you want a plan that is well thought out and you want someone to deliver it then Gove would do a great job.
Now, he won't get the leadership. But he may get to run the Brexit negotiations. Now this is either a good thing or a bad thing.
If he genuinely wants to leave the eu, it's a bad thing, as I suspect he will come up with a plan and implement it.
I suspect however that (like Boris) he was just using the campaign for his own ends. If we want someone who will sand bag and find a plan to get us out of leaving the EU, then he will do a damned good job of it.