In a surprise move, Theresa May has carried out a mini cabinet reshuffle to enable Michael Gove to become Minister for Sport.

Explaining her decision Mrs May said: “In our mission to put the Great back into Great Britain I have asked Michael to make radical changes to sport in our country based on a set of principles he applied so successfully during his time as Secretary of State for Education. These are exciting times for British sport as we seek to place ourselves alongside the world’s best.”

Following the reshuffle Mr Gove appeared at Trinity College, Cambridge, scene of the famous Great Court Run, surrounded by current and former athletes as he announced his new plan for sport.

He said “With immediate effect, all of our sporting efforts will be focused on running. We will begin by making running compulsory in the PE curriculum and instructing head teachers that only running will be allowed in PE lessons in mainstream schools and academies. Secondly we will amend the school performance measures so that the only criterion on which schools will be assessed will be on outcomes in running. We will introduce a measure called Physical 8 (P8) which will reflect every child’s outcomes in 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m, 10,000m and the eighth measure will be the traditional English mile.

“On May 6 each year, the anniversary of Roger Bannister’s first sub four-minute mile, we will send assessors in to every primary school to time all Year 6 pupils in completing a mile run.

“All schools will be judged by the number of pupils who achieve the nationally expected measure of a ‘Bannister’ which will be a time announced each year once the runs have been completed.”

Mr Gove was asked why he had decided that only running would be used as a performance measure and not other sports and activities including those like cycling and rowing in which Great Britain has been so successful in recent years on the world stage. Mr Gove replied: “Running is the very basis of all physical activity.

“It is vital that our young people have the core skills of sport if they are to be successful athletes in the future. Our new sporting curriculum will be based on the values of our ancestors dating back to the Stone Age.

He went on to say: “All of my political life has been devoted to fighting the liberal values of those people who do not understand the importance of developing a set of basic skills that will make Britain a world leader and that have served us well through the generations.

“Netball, Frisbee and synchronised swimming will not help us develop the character in our young people that they need in the modern world.

“If they are not able to run in line with our national expectations they will be able to access the ‘Running Premium’ which will fund their personalised running improvement programmes so that the national standard expected for access to further and higher education can be achieved.”

And a final word from Mr Gove. When asked about the future leadership of the Conservative Party he said: “I will not be running.”