Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have made their pitch to the North, with both pledging extra cash for schools and transport and the devolution of more powers to local leaders if they win the race to Number 10.

Ms Truss has also pledged that were she to become PM, she would build the Northern Powerhouse Rail to link up communities and unlock potential across the North.

The commitments come after newspapers across the North of England united to warn the former Chancellor and Foreign Secretary not to ‘turn their back’ on the region once in Downing Street.

The candidates, along with Labour's shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy, were invited by The Press and other newspapers to answer five key questions facing our region.

Their responses come as Mr Sunak and Ms Truss prepare to debate each other today at a regional hustings in Leeds.

The five questions we posed were:

  • What will you do to make sure the commitments made to the North are kept?
  • The average worker in the North is 50 per cent less productive than one in London, what will you do to address this widening gap?
  • What will you do to address spiralling rates of child poverty in parts of Northern England?
  • How far will you go to give Northern leaders control over education and skills, transport and health budgets?
  • Will you retain a government department responsible for tackling regional inequalities with a Cabinet-level Minister?

All three politicians acknowledged the issues.

Mr Sunak emphasised that he is a Northern MP and said he would 'keep the North front centre of my mind in all that I do' if he were to become PM.

He said he would 'double down' on levelling up and identified education as a key area which could boost the region's economy.

The Richmond MP also pledged to 'work with local leaders on what the future of transport looks like in the North', something which was sorely lacking when it came to the cut-price Northern Powerhouse Rail plan unveiled last year.

Ms Truss meanwhile backed calls for a 'levelling up formula', similar to the Barnett Formula used to distribute cash in Scotland as a means to ensure 'areas that have been left behind get the support they deserve'.

The Foreign Secretary also said she would roll out low tax 'Investment Zones' across the region, outlined a series of tax cuts to ease the cost of living crisis, and said she would 'build the Northern Powerhouse Rail to link up communities and unlock potential across the North’.

Both candidates committed to retaining a Government department responsible for tackling regional inequalities headed by a Cabinet-level minister.

Lisa Nandy meanwhile, said that if her party was in power it would invest £280bn over a decade to close the North/South divide.

To address the cost of living crisis, the Wigan MP said Labour would uprate benefits, cut VAT on energy bills, scrap leasehold charges and 'put rocket boosters' under the home insulation programme.

She said once in office she would also 'end the Hunger Games-style grants' that force local authorities to compete for small pots of cash and instead give leaders the tools to have “financial autonomy”.

  • TOMORROW: Sunak, Truss and Nandy’s responses in full