“Still trying to work out what happened. I hope Mr Gove is ok.”
Those were the words of BBC presenter Dan Walker, following a bizarre interview Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary on Wednesday.
The Surrey Heath MP mimicked two different accents, complete with a sprinkling of sarcasm, as he answered questions on the cost of living crisis.
Such was the peculiar nature of Mr Gove’s performance that some people online, a few MPs among them, jokingly asked if the cabinet minister had been under the influence.
Mr Gove is described by some of his colleagues as an eccentric who can sometimes take a novel approach when trying to get his message across.
He has had a few controversial moments over the years too, ranging from him admitting to taking cocaine as a young journalist to being filmed alone “on a night out on the tiles”, raving the night away in Aberdeen.
Michael Gove has suggested it ‘bonkeroony’ to suggest PM should quit over Partygate
Here’s a look back at some of those memorable moments.
‘Calm down’
Let’s start with Mr Gove’s most recent episode – that interview with the BBC on Wednesday morning.
The levelling up secretary adopted Liverpudlian and American accents at different points during questioning when asked why the government didn’t include in Tuesday’s Queen Speech any measures to help families with their rising bills.
He suggested the lack of an emergency budget to address the crisis was “no big deal”, saying people should “calm down” in a Scouse voice.
Labour’s Lisa Nandy, shadow levelling up secretary, lambasted him for “making jokes and using silly voices while families across the country are struggling” to make ends meet. “This isn’t a game…Take it seriously. Do your job”, she added.
Cocaine admission
During the 2019 Conservative Party leadership campaign to replace former prime minister Theresa May, Mr Gove admitted to taking cocaine on “several occasions” – something he said he “deeply regrets”.
The then-environment secretary said he took the drug at social gatherings when he was a young journalist.
“I took drugs on several occasions at social events more than 20 years ago,” he told The Daily Mail. “At the time I was a young journalist. It was a mistake. I look back and think, ‘I wish I hadn’t done that’.”
Michael Gove makes his way to No 10 Downing Street
Raving the night away in Aberdeen
Hilarious footage showed the moment Mr Gove was spotted dancing at a nightclub in his hometown of Aberdeen.
He was spotted throwing shapes and two-stepping into the early hours at Pipe nightclub in the city centre on a Saturday night.
The 54-year-old, who recently got divorced from longtime wife Sarah Vine, waved to the camera clearly enjoying Parliament’s summer recess.
Musician Emma Lament, who posted the videos to Instagram, wrote in the captions that the Tory MP was “giving it big licks” on the dance floor.
Water fail
During interrogation about possible trade agreements with the United States at a meeting of the government’s Future Relationship with the EU Committee in March 2020, Mr Gove appeared to laugh at his own response, before picking up a jug on the desk and dousing his own paperwork, and possibly his mobile phone in water.
He eventually directed the stream of fluid into a single-use plastic cup in front of him.
