No plans for a Minister for the North in broken pledge to Red Wall Tories

It is understood that there are currently no plans to appoint the cabinet position, despite Mr Sunak signing up to the pledge during the summer’s leadership contest.

It was one of the four pledges made by him and Liz Truss to the Northern Research Group of Tory MPs.

Mr Sunak tweeted in July that he was “pleased to sign up to the NRG’s pledges and commit to the Northern Agenda”.

This comes following the sacking of Jake Berry, the former NRG chairman who backed Liz Truss during the leadership campaign, as Conservative Party chairman.

It is understood that although it was reported that Simon Clarke, then-levelling up secretary, was called the Minister for the North under Liz Truss, this was never formalised by the Government, meaning that neither candidate delivered on their pledges to the NRG.

One Northern Tory told The Yorkshire Post: “I haven’t got a clue what he’s doing. He just seems to have said everything he wants to say just to get there [as PM].”

It comes as Mr Sunak appointed only one Northern MP to his cabinet following a reshuffle which saw several prominent ministers axed from their roles.

Aside from the Prime Minister himself, only Ben Wallace the Defence Secretary, represents a seat in the North of England.

Only five further cabinet ministers were born in areas of the North: Gillian Keegan, Therese Coffey, Steve Barclay, Michelle Donelan, and Scarborough’s Gavin Williamson.

One Tory source questioned whether the Prime Minister was now “the MP for Richmond in London, rather than North Yorkshire”.

Mr Sunak’s reshuffle this week also saw both Simon Clarke, the Teeside levelling up secretary, and the Lancashire MP and party chairman, Jake Berry sacked from his top team.

It comes after Mr Berry tweeted footage of Rishi Sunak during the summer’s leadership contest which showed him telling Conservatives in Tunbridge Wells that he tried to reverse Treasury formulas “that shoved all the funding into deprived areas”.

Mr Berry, a supporter of Liz Truss at the time, said: “In public Rishi Sunak claims he wants to level up the North, but here, he boasts about trying to funnel vital investment away from deprived areas?”

“He says one thing and does another – from putting up taxes to trying to block funding for our armed forces and now levelling up.”

Yesterday, Lisa Nandy wrote to Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, to demand that there is an independent investigation into the comments that he made.

“This could not be more serious,” she said.

“The Prime Minister has admitted that when he was Chancellor, he fixed the rules to funnel taxpayers’ money from “deprived” to more affluent parts of the country. This is the complete opposite of levelling up.”

A government spokesperson said: “We remain committed to levelling up every part of the country by spreading opportunity and investment, creating well-paid jobs and regenerating our towns and high streets.

“Leaders in the North are best placed to make decisions about their local areas, which is why we agreed a historic devolution deal for York and North Yorkshire with £540 million to invest in transport, housing, and education.”