SHADOW Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said the Labour Party “represented hope”, while Conservative rivals were peddling “fear and division”, as he visited the region on Monday.

As he spoke to students at Carmel College in Darlington, the former barrister pledged his support for Jeremy Corbyn – and his faith in his ability to negotiate a smoother exit from Europe.

Although he sidestepped a question about Sedgefield’s Labour candidate Phil Wilson distancing himself from the Labour leader, and the division within the Labour party, he said: “I think what is really interesting actually is that the Labour percentage in the polls seems to be going up and the Tory percentage has dramatically halved.

“So I think this has been a positive period for the Labour Party. The central messages from the manifesto are getting out.

“And our central message is one of hope, and investing in people for the future, and theirs is one of fear and division.”

At the weekend it emerged Mr Wilson had distanced himself from Mr Corbyn, in a strongly-worded election leaflet, saying he is “for Labour, not for Corbyn”.

The Sedgefield seat, and Darlington, are seen as vulnerable and are both Tory target seats. Sir Keir has been touring marginal seats in the run-up to the election.

Standing side-by-side with Ms Chapman as they took questions from sixth form students at Carmel, he said: “Darlington has had an excellent MP in Janny Chapman.

“In the years to come, what we need is a strong MP who absolutely knows her constituency, always stands up for their constituency and is able to bring their arguments to Parliament, and that is Jenny Chapman.”

Sir Keir is seen as a possible replacement for Corbyn if Labour loses on June 8. He was urged to stand in the last leadership contest, in 2015, but had only been a serving MP for one year and felt he needed more political experience.

Yesterday he said the most important thing about Brexit was “getting the tone and approach right”.

“Theresa May has got both wrong,” he said. “She has been extreme in dismissing all options before negotiations had even begun. She has been belligerent and got us off to a very bad start with those we are negotiating with.

“The tone and approach Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party have taken is a constructive one and I am confident they will deliver a good result for our country.”