Cabinet minister Michael Gove and junior minister Eddie Hughes – architects of the pro-renter White Paper issued last month – are staying loyal to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

After the spectacular resignations of former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and former Health Secretary Sajid Javid last evening, all eyes were on other senior politicians. 

BBC political correspondents were informed that Gove – appointed as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities by Johnson just 10 months ago – was staying loyal to the man who gave him his job.

Hughes – officially the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Rough Sleeping – was appointed by the PM in January 2021 and has been a pro-Brexit pro-Johnson loyalist, saying he backed the Prime Minister in last month’s confidence vote. 

Hughes in particular has been closely involved with the creation of the Fairer Rental Sector White Paper, released last month and widely regarded as signalling a fundamental shift of power from landlords to tenants.

Ironically he took over the leadership of the White Paper project from a former housing minister – the now-notorious Chris Pincher – who was moved by Johnson to become deputy chief whip.

It is Pincher’s reputation and alleged sexual assaults that have come under scrutiny and led to separate allegations of Number 10 misleading senior ministers who were sent to the media to defend Johnson. Pincher denies some of the allegations.

The fate of the White Paper and Renters Reform Bill depend, to some extent, on whether Hughes remains a housing minister. If he resigns, or is replaced in a reshuffle led by Johnson or another Prime Minister, the Bill may be at the very least delayed.

Both the campaigning charity Shelter and the activist group Generation Rent, have lavished praise on the Johnson government for their proposals for the private rental sector.

Shelter called the White Paper a “landmark” with “the power to level the playing field between tenants and landlords and make renting fairer for all.” It was, said chief executive Polly Neate, a “gamechanger”.

Baroness Alicia Kennedy, director of Generation Rent, was similarly enthusiastic about the Johnson government reform.

She said: “If the government can get the detail right and give tenants the confidence they need to request improvements and plan for the long term, this legislation has the potential to improve the lives of millions throughout England.”