Why Rishi Sunak's 'levelling up' funding is so divisive among Tories

In 2019, political experts coined the phrase “Workington Man” to describe a target voter in an election that saw Boris Johnson take on Jeremy Corbyn.

The then Conservative MP was gunning for “red wall” voters in places like this Cumbrian town.

Today, the MP for Workington, Mark Jenkinson, told me he was pretty happy with the levelling up announcements.

“Workington Man is delighted with levelling up progress,” he messaged, explaining that bids in his borough and county had been approved.

Other colleagues were also over the moon - like Blackpool South MP Scott Benton who tweeted “Brilliant news! Yet MORE funding for Blackpool.”

But many of their red-wall colleagues felt very differently - frustrated and angry that their constituencies had missed out and surprised to see money go into wealthier areas and more into the south than previously.

Some berated Chancellor Jeremy Hunt when they met him to discuss the bids this week. They warned that marginal seats appeared to be particularly badly hit, arguing that it is political madness.

I heard that in a WhatsApp group for Red Wall MPs, some discussed fears that the government was using a "Southern Comfort" strategy - in which they focus on making already comfortable voters in the south better off.

A regional breakdown of the funding:

– Yorkshire and the Humber: £120,619,162

– West Midlands: £155,579,834

– Wales: £208,175,566

– South West: £186,663,673

– South East: £210,467,526

– Scotland: £177,206,114

– Northern Ireland: £71,072,373

– North West: £354,027,146

– North East: £108,548,482

– London: £151,266,674

– East Midlands: £176,870,348

– East: £165,903,400

One thing that speaks to that fear is the make up of Rishi Sunak's full cabinet. It has over a dozen MPs representing seats in the south of England, including three in Surrey alone. And yet only two across the whole of the north of England.

When I asked the PM about that he insisted he just wanted the best people for the jobs, to help him push his priorities including halving inflation and growing he economy.

He also pointed out that the man in charge - himself, that is - is one of the two representing a northern seat. That meant the north of England would never be forgotten at the Cabinet table, he argued.

But it is unquestionable that today's levelling up announcements made a point of trying to target deprivation wherever it is.

Henri Murison, of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said ministers spending the day 'touring the north of England' is not sufficient

And one of the reasons that the government is sensitive about that- and so not worried about tipping the funding slightly more southwards - is that they have seen the resentment among some of their Tory voters towards the previous heavy focus on the red wall.

After all, the Tories lost three by-elections in the south because voters felt forgotten and fed up. The government wants to ensure that those voters remain Tory.

But the challenge, of course, is that to comfortably win an election they probably need both groups.

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