CONSERVATIVE Central Office last night rejected claims that the Tories have given up on the North of England.
Reports yesterday suggested that the Conservative Party has drawn up plans to snub voters in the region - focusing instead on winnable seats in the South and the Midlands.
The Sunday Mirror said that a "senior Tory source" revealed private polls carried out in the region had concluded Conservative leader David Cameron's public school background was seen as a big turn-off.
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It said that, even in Yorkshire, he is considered a "soft southerner".
However, Tory spokesman Hayden Allan last night dismissed the report as "utter rubbish".
He said: "If anything, we are investing more and more resources in the region - we're investing millions of pounds.
"An example of this was the spring forum, in Gateshead, which contributed £1m to the local economy with delegates and associated visitors.
"It is very clear that we will campaign hard in the North, with our campaigns led by William Hague."
The Conservative Party holds only 19 councils and has 17 MPs in the North of England.
However, a recent poll suggested the two main parties were neck and neck in the region, which is Labour's traditional heartland.
Richmond MP William Hague is reportedly in charge of a multi-million pound fighting fund to win hearts and minds in the North-East.
Mr Hague said: "We are determined that the Conservative Party should be a government for the whole country, not just the rural areas and the South, but for the urban North too.
"We have been fully engaged over the past 18 months in making the North-East, in particular, a strategic priority for the Conservative Party.
"Labour are complacent and arrogant, believing no matter how much they bungle over Northern Rock, or lose data from Revenue and Customs in Washington, no matter how unfairly they treat the North-East when it comes to transport funding compared to the South-East and no matter how much they put up our council taxes, the people of the North-East will line up to vote for them."
The Tories have set up campaign centres in Newcastle, Salford and Bradford.
They also said they have recently doubled the number of campaigning staff ahead of the local elections in May.
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