It’s rare to see Britain’s leading political parties finding some sort of common ground across a spectrum of issues, rarer still to see two opposing MP’s endorsing each other.

What is unheard of is a Tory MP dedicating an entire column to the love suddenly coursing through his veins for his one-time Labour jousting partner.

But here we have it. Michael Gove has dedicated this week’s column in The Times to revealing how he has “fallen head over heels in love” with Ed Balls, a sudden yearning apparently sprung from the latter's unparalleled dad dancing on Strictly Come Dancing.

This feeling may well be unrequited but that hasn’t deterred Gove, who set out his “complex and personal” reasons for now spending his weekends campaigning for Mr Balls in a piece decorated with lashings of hyperbole.

Strictly Come Dancing 2016 in pictures Show all 12 1 /12 Strictly Come Dancing 2016 in pictures Strictly Come Dancing 2016 in pictures Ore Oduba puts his claim in for the Glitterball with Joanne Clifton BBC/Guy Levy Strictly Come Dancing 2016 in pictures Judge Robert Rinder dancing the cha cha with Oksana Platero BBC/Guy Levy Strictly Come Dancing 2016 in pictures Lesley Joseph dancing with Anton Du Beke to 'What'll I Do' by Alison Krauss BBC/Guy Levy Strictly Come Dancing 2016 in pictures Greg Rutherford dancing with Natalie Lowe on Strictly Come Dancing BBC/Guy Levy Strictly Come Dancing 2016 in pictures Greg Rutherford hit the dancefloor like a maniac BBC/Guy Levy Strictly Come Dancing 2016 in pictures Laura Whitmore cha chas with Giovanni Pernice to the tune of 'Venus' BBC/Guy Levy Strictly Come Dancing 2016 in pictures Pasha Kovalev dances with BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty BBC/Guy Levy Strictly Come Dancing 2016 in pictures Ore threw some energetic jumps into the mix BBC/Guy Levy Strictly Come Dancing 2016 in pictures Laura Whitmore and Giovanni Pernice opened the series with a cha cha BBC/Guy Levy Strictly Come Dancing 2016 in pictures Judge Robert Rinder played on his legal prowess for his first dance BBC/Guy Levy Strictly Come Dancing 2016 in pictures Lesley Joseph was waltzed around the ballroom by Strictly legend Anton Du Beke BBC/Guy Levy Strictly Come Dancing 2016 in pictures You go Greg! BBC/Guy Levy

“Ed is different,” the former Secretary of State for Education explains. “He is Everydad. He’s the enthusiastic, in for a penny, let it all hang out amateur who performs as any of us would hope to if somehow catapulted on to the show.

“I and my family are having to adjust to a new turn my life has taken. Against my better judgment, against all my past inclinations, I have developed an infatuation with another man.”

He says his only excuse for this abrupt about-turn is that he is not alone in his sudden warmth of feeling for Mr Balls.

“The former cabinet minister and ex-shadow chancellor is now reborn as the People’s Ed, the star of Strictly, the nation’s favourite dad-dancer and the best vote-getter Labour has had since Clement Attlee.

“But politics is poorer without him. We need more passion, more commitment, more courage in setting out provocative intellectual cases, more urgency in driving reform, more faith in the power of argument to change minds and votes, more willingness to risk criticism, even derision, in pursuit of deep principle. In short, we need more Balls.”