Familiar face in a beefed-up new role

摘要

The post of secretary of state for housing, communities and local government has, in the past, been pitched as a demotion or a starter job for those without political clout. Not so now. New incumbent Michael Gove has taken on the role with a rebranded department and a beefed-up portfolio that makes it clear that this is not a career dead end. The newly-styled Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has become the department focused on ticking off the priorities needed for the Government to win the next election. Unlike his predecessor, Mr Gove will have jurisdiction to push levelling up across other Government departments - and he will retain responsibility for the Union and for elections. Bom in Aberdeen in 1967, Mr Gove was adopted at four months old. He campaigned for the Labour party in 1983 before switching to Conservative allegiance when he attended Oxford University - alongside Boris Johnson.