MPs howled in laughter as Michael Gove commended Boris Johnson's leadership on levelling up in the Commons.
The former PM made an appearance during communities questions calling on the government to accelerate levelling-up measures such as Northern Powerhouse Rail, planning reform and devolution.
Mr Gove, who is the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary, began his response by thanking Mr Johnson for his involvement on the issue.
He was met with loud laughter from the Labour benches as Mr Johnson floundered on the Tory side.
Rishi Sunak's distribution of levelling-up funding faced huge backlash in January, as he was accused of pumping money into the South as well as his own seat.
The Prime Minister was forced to deny that the £2.1billion for more than 100 projects across the country was 'pork barrel politics' - and insisted the North was receiving more funding per head.
Furious Tories branded it a "f**k up of epic proportions" and raised concerns that wealthy areas were getting levelling up cash designed to help left behind areas.
In the Commons interaction today, Mr Johnson said: "Given that the UK is one of the most regionally imbalanced of all the major economies and given the massive potential that is waiting to be unleashed, is it not time to accelerate the Levelling Up Bill now stalled and push forward urgently with Northern Powerhouse Rail, planning reform, devolution, secure affordable energy supply, gigabit broadband and all the other levelling-up measures that will make this the strongest and most prosperous economy in Europe?"
Communities Secretary Michael Gove replied: "Can I take this opportunity to thank him for the leadership that he showed on this issue."
As laughter erupted on the Labour benches, Mr Gove continued: "The Levelling Up White Paper would not have been published without his determination to ensure that at the heart of Government are 12 clear missions which will ensure that this country achieves its full potential."
He added: "The Leader of the Opposition, as he currently is and will long remain, decided that the way in which he could endear himself to this country was by having five missions. As ever, he had nothing like the same scale of ambition or vision as him (Boris Johnson) when it came to making this country great."
Later in the debate, Labour MP Dan Carden raised the case of Awaab Ishak, whose death was linked to mould in his family's flat, and Awaab's Law which is intended to ensure social landlords deal with damp and mould issues swiftly.
He said: "My understanding is that the decent homes standard will not appear in the Renters (Reform Bill), and there is no equivalent to Awaab's Law either.
"So can I ask the Secretary of State to go back to the department to put in proper measures to make sure we have decent homes in the private rented sector?"
Communities minister Rachel Maclean said: "It's completely wrong that people are living in homes that do not meet the decent homes standards."
She added: "We are improving the quality of properties all across the private rented sector, we are introducing a decent homes standard. We will do that at the first legislative opportunity, and we will be the first government ever to do so."
The commons session also saw Labour suggest an investigation into claims of wrongdoing at the UK's largest freeport will not have public confidence because of its "handpicked" panel.
Shadow communities secretary Lisa Nandy asked why the National Audit Office was not tasked with leading the probe into the Teesworks freeport in the north east of England, as the region's Conservative mayor Ben Houchen originally requested.
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