Michael Gove, Conservative MP, serves up some curious hand gestures while speaking including teacup gestures and steeple Vulcans. Here are some of the more interesting examples from his interview on the Andrew Marr show on Sunday.

1. Steeple

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Gove’s default position is the steeple gesture which according to experts signals confidence, positivity and professionalism.

 

 

2. Vulcan

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Gove loves to part his middle and ring fingers in what I term the ‘Vulcan’ gesture. This is sometimes accompanied with a firm thumb press on the top of the fingers. Parting ones middle and ring fingers is not something that comes natural to most people – give it a try.

 

3. Teacup

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Gove must drink lots of tea at posh tea parties because he is often found with his little finger curled up but jutting out from the rest of the fingers. Sometimes the hand is horizontal as if he is pouring the tea into his lap!

4. Ducky

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Ducky is a common Gove gesture with the thumb and forefinger pressed together.

 

 

5. Button

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This is a common gesture for many politicians with the thumb pressed firmly into the top of the fingers as if one is pressing a button.

 

 

 

6. Steeple Vulcan

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Gove sometimes combines gestures to produce novel ones. Here he is combing the steeple gesture and the vulcan gesture. Not sure what this is meant to convey except perhaps Gove’s penchant for hand yoga!

 

 

 

BBC, The Andrew Marr Show, 9th June 2019 (about 41 mins)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0005xjm/the-andrew-marr-show-09062019