Actually Gove didn't say that "all is wrong and needs to be revolutionised". The academy programme, for example, was started by the previous government. What Gove has done is put rocket boosters on that programme. Supporters of academies and free schools (which are essentially academies) will say that there is plenty of evidence that they work, both from the UK experience and in other countries. I am neutral on this but, given that academies have support from all three major political parties, it is clearly the way the country is going.
There is plenty of evidence that GCSEs have suffered from grade inflation for years. As for the idea that no-one outside Islington or the "Tory political class" is worried about this, words fail me. I live several hundred miles from Islington and there are many people here of all political colours who have no confidence whatsoever in GCSEs.
The CBI didn't come out in support of the status quo. This is what the CBI actually recommended:
A move from GCSEs in the middle of this decade, but the development of a more rigorous and diverse assessment approach that helps better decision-making by young people at the key points of age 14, 16 and 18 rather than simply substituting GCSEs with a more rigorous exam at 16
So they want a bigger change than the one Gove is making.
I am not saying Gove is making the right changes. I don't know whether or not his prescription is correct. However, we are slipping down the international tables educationally. If we don't change anything we are accepting continued decline.