Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove has appeared to support moving the House of Lords to "Sunderland or Stoke" while London's Palace of Westminster is revamped.
The Cabinet Minister was delivering a keynote speech at the Local Government Association conference taking place in Harrogate earlier this week, when he made the comments.
After finishing his speech and exiting the conference stage to leave the auditorium, the Levelling Up Secretary was quizzed by Lib Dem Sunderland city councillor Stephen O’Brien, on whether he would bring the House of Lords to Sunderland or not.
Read more: Michael Gove says Sunderland 'could be a wonderful new home' for House of Lords
Wearside Liberal Democrats are campaigning for the upper chamber of Parliament to be moved to Sunderland after the city was mentioned earlier in the year as a possible location by Michael Gove, alongside Plymouth, Burnley, Stoke on Trent and Edinburgh.
But after questioning at the LGA Conference about whether he would choose Sunderland to be the temporary home of the House of Lords during renovation work at the Palace of Westminster, he Coun O'Brien claimed that he supported a move to Stoke or Sunderland.
Lib Dem councillor Stephen O’Brien, said: “This is promising news for the campaign to bring the House of Lords to Sunderland while the Houses of Parliament are being refurbished. As Michael Gove walked past me at the LGA conference I didn’t want to miss a chance to raise our campaign to move the House of Lords to Sunderland with him.
"It was really encouraging to hear him say that his choice is between Sunderland or Stoke.
“Faced with this choice between Stoke and Sunderland, I hope everyone in the city and the wider region will give their backing to relocating the House of Lords to Wearside so that we can get the economic benefits that would come with it – and help to put Sunderland on the map.”
A parliamentary commission is expected to make proposals for Parliament's restoration later this year, with MPs already having voted to accept the principle of vacating the Commons while they are carried out. However, issues such as the rising cost of living have caused a provocation of backlash, with uncertainty in the air with regards to whether MPs will stay in London or move further afield.
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