What next for Levelling Up, and Michael Gove?

Civil servants arriving at the Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities department on Thursday morning found themselves leaderless, after the sacking the night before of Michael Gove and the resignations earlier that day of three junior ministers.

Only Eddie Hughes, Walsall North MP, remained in place, as the parliamentary under secretary of state, until the announcement of Greg Clark as Gove’s replacement.

Of course, other departments also lost their leaders during the Cabinet revolt but none underwent such upheaval as Levelling Up, Boris Johnson’s flagship ministry.

Formed last September, with Gove appointed to drive its agenda, Levelling Up represented Johnson’s mission to address the problems of the “left behind” areas of the UK.

Britain has greater regional inequality than almost any other developed nation, according to research by the Bank of England and the University of Sheffield, and the PM’s pledge to reduce this was key to his electoral pitch.

Although its programme was still at the fledgling stage, Levelling Up was referred to by mandarins as the “winning elections department”, with social housing, devolution, and electoral reform all within its remit.

But can this one potentially noble legacy of the Johnson regime survive the collapse of his premiership? Or, more to the point, can it carry on without Gove at its helm?

The MP for Surrey Heath is not seen as a leadership contender this time around and, until his visit to Number 10 on Wednesday to tell his boss to quit, he had been keeping a relatively low profile.

While Cabinet colleagues were dragged onto the airwaves to defend the flailing Johnson government, Gove went all quiet. His foes suspected he was “on manoeuvres” — plotting and positioning himself — but maybe he was just attending to the day job.

Those who worked for him say he had a good grip of his department and genuinely seemed to care about it. Even his detractors have to concede that he is an effective minister.

John Crace of The Guardian wrote earlier this year that Gove was “the government’s go-to man to put in charge of departments that are seen to be underperforming and need shaking up. Primarily because he’s moderately more competent — a low bar — and better at appearing to get things done than most other ministers.”

His impact, when put in charge of education by David Cameron, was transformational, with state schools liberated from local authority control, in sweeping “academisation” reforms initiated by Tony Blair but accelerated under Gove.

“He was a minister utterly on top of his brief, with an extraordinary knowledge of educational research and statistics,” said The Guardian.

But his achievements in revolutionising education, and thereby enabling more children to break out of their disadvantaged backgrounds, made him unpopular, especially with the Left, paradoxically. Or they failed to make an already divisive politician popular. His stab at the leadership in 2016 ended badly and his complex relationship with Johnson, who cited Gove’s “treachery” in his dismissal, kept him out of the high offices of state.

But what he got instead was by no means a booby prize. At Levelling Up, Gove managed to fashion a department in his own image.

In what was basically Housing rebranded, he also grabbed devolution — another personal preoccupation for which he was clearly the ideal lead — and electoral reform. He brought top personnel, along with what he saw as the best bits of government, to his new office.

And he formed a ministerial team, including up-and-coming stars such as Kemi Badenoch, who seemed to be making a difference behind the scenes.

In social housing — a plank of government critical to improving people’s life chances Gove’s departure is already much lamented.

Social housing campaigner Kwajo Tweneboa said the UK’s housing crisis had been “dealt another blow” by Gove’s sacking. “Gove approached ME after seeing my posts on socials in regards to the horrid living conditions tenants were subject to and organised several meetings with myself to get my input on what it was tenants want and need. Making it clear things must and will change,” Tweneboa tweeted.

“He immediately placed pressure on housing providers, making it clear under his leadership their behaviour would no longer continue. He also put pressure on the Ombudsman and Regulators to create immediate and long-term change, benefiting tenants.”

“Most importantly he listened to suggestions made by myself in regards to changing policies and changed planned legislation to implement some of these which was later announced in the Queens Speech. He admitted tenants had been failed and change was coming… but unfortunately Boris put an end to that.”

Under Gove, things were starting to head in the right direction, said Tweneboa. Who, he asked, would now drive forward the legislation for housing reform?

Who indeed? Inside Levelling Up, staff noticed that posters of Gove had been taken down before their Secretary of State was pushed out on Wednesday night. Given that he had threatened to quit by 9 pm if Boris didn’t go, perhaps he saw the writing on the wall and ordered their removal himself. Perhaps not.

Intrigue surrounds Gove and limits his appeal as prime ministerial material. But even if he can’t be considered for the top job, he must be a central part of the new government, with the ear of the new prime minister. Free of the present incumbent’s peevishness, he can then get back to work.