Michael Gove caught on phone during Laura Kuenssberg intro

Michael Gove, now heading up the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities after ministerial stints in education, justice, the environment and the Cabinet Office, has provided us with some cringeworthy memes over the years – from his unusual approach to clapping, getting ‘merry’ in a club in Aberdeen, losing his balance in Morecambe and putting on a range of accents to dismiss talks of an emergency budget.

Now, as the government minister put forward to do Sunday’s round of the political programmes, the Surrey Heath MP has become an instant meme once more after his introduction on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg captured him typing away on his phone before hurriedly putting it into his suit pocket and giving an awkward smile.

It didn’t help either that the former BBC political editor asked “what are the Tories really doing for the next generation” as the camera was rolling, inadvertently suggesting he wasn’t at all interested in the subject.

And so, Twitter/X users were quick to clip the awkward moment and make memes out of it:

It wasn’t the only moment from Gove’s broadcast round which sparked ridicule, as the Tory MP was asked by Sky News’ Trevor Phillips if Rishi Sunak was the person he wanted “front and centre” for the Conservatives going into the next general election.

“You bet. Absolutely. 100 per cent,” he simply said.

As Phillips was taken aback by the brief response, Gove went on to add: “I’m using a straightforward affirmation. The prime minister is one of the most gifted leaders in the western world, he is someone who has a razor-sharp intellect, great integrity, a determination to do what is right, and above all, a plan for Britain.”

This comment about integrity, of course, came in the same week Sunak received widespread condemnation – even within his own party - for making a comment about the "definition of a woman" during Prime Minister’s Questions, while the mother of murdered transgender teenager Brianna Ghey was watching on in the public gallery.

The PM has repeatedly refused to apologise to Brianna’s family over the remark.

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