Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, has spoken out about the detrimental effect Simon Cowell’s propagation of fame and fortune has had on the attitude of young people.

In an essay published in the Daily Mail, Gove argued that modern society no longer values virtues such as “hard work, academic rigour, intellectual ambition and creative excellence” and instead “increasingly prefers to bow down before a new golden calf and worship the cult of celebrity.”

He went on: “The most brutally cynical encapsulation of this new creed came from the principal prophet of the cult, Simon Cowell”.

The Conservative politician was particularly angered by a recent comment made by Cowell that downplays the importance of education.

The X Factor mogul had professed: “I didn’t work hard when I was at school. I left at 16 and didn’t have any qualifications. I was useless. The secret is to be useless at school and then get lucky.”

In response Michael Gove argued: “When I read these words I could hardly believe he had uttered them, even half in jest. It’s hard to imagine a more damaging message to send young people today.”

He added: “Thanks to the influence of Simon Cowell, his acolytes and emulators, the figures who increasingly populate our children’s imaginations and embody their ambitions are reality-show winners and footballers’ wives, cover stars of the celebrity magazine ‘Heat’ and the regulars in ‘OK!’”

Watch Simon Cowell taking part in One Direction day below: