Levelling up all but disappears from Rishi Sunak's Conservative manifesto

After the launch, when asked if he had “let down” the North, he referenced Teeside, where Ben Houchen has recently been elected as mayor.

He said: “You talk about the North, Teeside was an area that Labour neglected for decades, took it completely for granted and it was Ben, and our MPs and councillors who transformed the region.

“If you go around Teesside now every High Street and town centre … is getting investment from our various levelling up funds, the new Brexit-enabled freeport is creating unbelievable high quality jobs in the industrys of the future.

“The Treasury Campus is in Darlington. It’s one thing for the Treasury Campus to be in the North but it's not Newcastle, it's not Manchester, it's not in Leeds, it's in Darlington because towns matter.

“But more than any of that… what the Conservatives have done is give everyone in Teeside confidence and optimism about their futures.”

In comparison with his predecessor Boris Johnson, whose campaign focussed heavily on the levelling up agenda, the issue has taken something of a back seat under Sunak, with some of the funds even re-designated to his National Service scheme.

In the manifesto, the phrase ‘levelling up’ is mentioned eight times in the 80 pages, and four of those referred to either Wales or Northern Ireland.

London is mentioned 15 times, while the word ‘Yorkshire’ does not appear.

Among the key pledges made by Sunak yesterday were: A plan to halve migration then cut the number every year; Abolish stamp duty for first-time buyers on homes up to £425,000; Build 1.6 million new homes; Build 100 new GP surgeries; and get 8,000 more bobbies on the beat.

With housing a key plank of the manifesto, a new poll published yesterday by Yougov showed 92 per cent of people feel it is ‘difficult or very difficult' to get on the housing ladder.

During his speech, the Prime Minister also said he was not: “blind to the fact that people are frustrated with our party and frustrated with me” and “we have not got everything right”, but insisted his is the only party “with the big ideas to make our country a better place to live”.

He went on to say: “Either Keir Starmer or I are going to be Prime Minister on July 5. If I am Prime Minister, you will have this bold action, all you’ve got from the Labour Party is a blank sheet of paper.