Michael Gove asks for Wolverhampton nightlife recommendations as staff move into city
Michael Gove said he was keen to sample Wolverhampton's nightlife as his Government department settles in the Black Country.
The Levelling Up minister said his plan was to spend more time in Wolverhampton and the surrounding region now much of his department is based at the i9 Railway Drive.
Having also recently been videoed dancing in a nightclub in Aberdeen, Mr Gove was keen to say he was looking forward to seeing the city at night and welcomed suggestions for places to go.
He said: "I'm really looking forward to it and I think my predecessor Robert Jenrick was inspirational in deciding that we should move more jobs out of London, and Wolverhampton is absolutely the right choice.
"The location is brilliant, the facilities are great and I love spending as much time out of London as I can, with my previous job having a headquarters in Glasgow, so I'm planning to spend as much time as I can in Wolverhampton and the West Midlands.
"I also absolutely do intend to see more of Wolverhampton's nightlife and I'm looking to the Express & Star and people who know to provide me of recommendations of where I should be spending my evenings."
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said the department currently had 200 people working at i9 Railway Drive, with a plan to increase that to 250 people, as part of a movement of 22,000 jobs out of London to cities across the country.
The secretary of state was in Wolverhampton to visit the new Brownfield Institute and School of Architecture at the Springfield campus of Wolverhampton University and meet with local leaders ahead of the publication of the white paper on Levelling Up.
He was given a guided tour of the facilities alongside Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street, Wolverhampton Council Leader Ian Brookfield and Wolverhampton North East MP Jane Stevenson and said it was fantastic to have the opportunity to meet local leaders.
He said: "I was pleased to be able to meet the leader of Wolverhampton, chief executives and Andy Street as the Mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority ahead of the white paper.
"We hope to be able to publish it next week, certainly in the next month, and will be saying more about how we can help great local leaders to do the work of providing more opportunities for the next generation.
"I'm also blown away about the facilities here and enjoyed speaking to the students, who are motivated and can see by coming to this university, there is a clear career path."
Mr Gove also spoke about the current investigation into parties at Downing Street and the upcoming report from Sue Gray, saying that it was important to get the report out.
He said: "It's important that we have a chance to assess the facts and I'm sure it will be the case that changes will be needed because people were understandably and justifiably angry about some of the events that went on.
"I think it's important just to see all of these events in contact and I think that is what Sue Gray's report will do, but it's also important that in government, while we are honest about the mistakes we've made, we also put them right.
"I think what people want from their politicians is work to give the next generation jobs, make sure homes are there and improve the NHS and schools, but let's wait for the report and draw the lessons when it's published."
Andy Street was also keen to say that the relocation of the Levelling Up department to the region would bring more jobs to the region.
He said: "It's all about recruitment at the moment and there are vacancies all over the region at the moment and good jobs, so what we hope that the department coming here will allow it to be a centre for investment and regeneration across the region."
