Rishi Sunak has been accused of viewing "everything outside of London as the same", after he citied investment in the North East during a discussion on Scotland.
In an attempt to burnish his Union credentials, the former Chancellor talked up his passion for Scotland but then pointed to the creation of a Treasury campus at Bishopsgate House in Darlington as an example.
The comments, during a hustings event organised by the Spectator, raised eyebrows and led former Darlington MP and Labour peer Jenny Chapman to say: "It is revealing that everything outside of London and north of Watford is viewed the same".
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Asked if he would be spending much time in Scotland if he were to win the Tory leadership race, Mr Sunak said: "Yeah, I think people can already see that I take that seriously.
"I mean, I was the Chancellor who set up the economic campus for the Treasury in Darlington and not only did I set it up, I also spent a lot of time there myself personally, and ensured that all my ministers did."
Ms Chapman, who was formerly Sir Keir Starmer's political adviser, said the comment spoke more broadly to the Government's attitude towards levelling up.
She told ChronicleLive: "Their approach to levelling up just isn't delivering and they point to the same projects again, and again and again, as examples of solutions when they're just inadequate. They're not addressing the fundamental problems that are actually getting worse in the North of England.
"They've presided over the biggest real terms cut in education funding since the introduction of state funded education and they think that by having a snappy phrase that people won't notice, well, I'm afraid people do notice.
"I think what people want is delivery and outcomes and they're not seeing it and are getting disillusioned.
"It's really striking that the economic regeneration of the North of England just isn't an issue for these Tory contestants, they're not focused on it, they're not talking about it, they're being asked about it."
She added: "It's as if they want to move on from that whole agenda, they want to do something else, they're looking at the shires, they're concerned about the blue wall in the south of England.
"The widening problem that they've made worse since 2010 is something that they just they don't have an agenda for. I think people are going to feel quite betrayed."
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