The chairman of the Conservatives says none of the staff working at the party's new headquarters in Leeds have complained about poor transport connections despite the city's HS2 link being axed by the Government.
Oliver Dowden today formally opened the new Conservative campaign headquarters at Wellington Place, a new development a short walk from Leeds station.
Around 50 people work at the new office, a similar number to that at Conservative Campaign Headquarters in central London, made up of a mixture of local employees and some who have relocated from the capital.
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The creation of a Tory HQ was announced in 2020 as part of efforts by Boris Johnson to capitalise on his gains made in Labour's so-called 'red wall' of Northern seats in the 2019 General Election.
Speaking to The Northern Agenda political newsletter, Mr Dowden said Leeds was a "fantastic location" for the base.
He said: "It's vibrant, it's young, it's energetic. And we could have made the decision to just have a few desks. But we've got a proper functioning HQ somewhere where people can work and enjoy themselves in these great surroundings.
"And I can tell you, it's a lot better in Leeds than it is in London in terms of the office facilities that we've got.
"Many of the staff I've been talking to today are really excited by the prospect of working here.
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"In terms of who's located here, it's been a mixture of relocating some people from London and recruiting people locally. And I think that over time that will continue to recruit more and more people locally, but it's a fully functioning HQ."
Wellington Place already hosts a number of businesses and organisations, including the Department for Transport.
Last year the Government announced that the Eastern Leg of the proposed HS2 high speed rail route from London would not be coming to Leeds as previously promised.
Instead it will go from Birmingham to the East Midlands, with HS2 trains running on upgraded tracks as far as Sheffield.
Last month High Speed Rail Minister Andrew Stephenson said he was still committed to getting HS2 trains, if not necessarily the route itself, to Leeds. Rail experts say bringing the route into Leeds would help improve capacity on local railways, a problem that has blighted the network in recent years.
The Government is spending £100m on examining how HS2 could still potentially arrive in Leeds, with a further £100m to look at how it could interact with long-awaited plans for a rapid mass transit system in the city.
Leeds is desperate to rid itself of its status as the biggest urban area in Western Europe without a metro system and Boris Johnson has promised to make that happen.
Asked whether it was a problem that HS2 was not coming to Leeds, Mr Dowden said more than £100m was being spent upgrading Leeds station.
And he added: "Actually coming from London, it is a very straightforward two and a half hour trip, nice trains very, very quickly and easily done. So there's already very strong transport connections.
"And I have to say that none of the people working in the HQ have raised concerns about transport connections.
"Actually, everyone's pleased at how easy it is for people to get from Leeds to London and from London to Leeds so that we have an effective operation across two core HQ hubs."
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