CHANCELLOR Philip Hammond has described Theresa May as a “safe pair of hands” on a second pre-election visit to the North-East today (Thursday, May 18).

Mr Hammond met representatives from technology start-up companies at the Fusion Hive business centre in Northshore, Stockton and said it was a fantastic facility.

The Chancellor was one of three Tory ministers in the region on the same day with Transport Secretary Chris Grayling in County Durham and Northern Powerhouse minister Andrew Percy visiting the TTE training facility in South Bank, Middlesbrough.

Mr Hammond, accompanied by the Conservative prospective Parliamentary candidate for Stockton North, Mark Fletcher, said he hoped the “strength and stability” offered by the Prime Minister would appeal to people, regardless of how they had voted in the past.

He said: “We are going into a period of change, we have to deliver Brexit and make it work for Britain, seizing the opportunities that will come.

“What we need is a safe pair of hands and strong and stable leadership and in my view Theresa May offers that leadership for Britain.”

Mr Fletcher echoed the Chancellor’s message, describing himself as Theresa May’s candidate and the current MP for Stockton North, Alex Cunningham, as Jeremy Corbyn’s candidate.

He said: “Even he [Mr Cunningham] does not think Jeremy Corbyn is good enough to lead the country.”

Mr Fletcher said it was “absolute nonsense” to suggest that the Tories didn’t care about the North-East.

He said: “You can see from all of the effort we are putting in that we really want to represent this area.

“It is not just about electoral gains, this area has a bright future and with Conservative representation we can build on that."

On his visit Mr Percy, who spoke to trainee engineers at TTE, said Teesside had “so much more potential” and it was “doing very well” out of the Northern Powerhouse project.