Backbenchers in the House of Commons struggled to hide their disbelief after Michael Gove paid tribute to Boris Johnson’s leadership on the government’s levelling-up agenda.
Taking a stand on Monday, the former prime minister urged the housing and levelling up secretary to accelerate progress on a range of policies that he had first introduced during his time in Downing Street.
The Government climbed down on key planks of its planning reforms last year, abandoning compulsory house-building targets for local areas in the face of a backbench Tory rebellion.
A target of building 300,000 new homes a year, which was included in the 2019 Conservative manifesto, has since been referred to by Gove as “advisory” rather than “mandatory”.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Johnson told him: “Given that the UK is one of the most regionally imbalanced of all the major economies and given the massive potential that is waiting to be unleashed, is it not time to accelerate the Levelling Up Bill, now stalled, and push forward urgently with Northern Powerhouse Rail, planning reform, devolution, secure affordable supply, gigabit broadband and all the other Levelling Up measures that will make this the strongest and most prosperous economy in Europe?”
Thanking him for his “leadership on this issue”, Gove replied: “The Levelling Up White Paper would not have been published without his determination to ensure that at the heart of government are 12 clear missions, which will ensure that this country achieves its full potential.”
But he had barely managed to finish his statement before the House of Commons into fits of giggles.
Watch the footage in full below:
Related: Suella Braverman refuses to correct the record after citing incorrect figures