IT has long been a major complaint of this newspaper that the views of the North-East and North Yorkshire are inadequately represented in the corridors of power at Westminster.

Having a North Yorkshire MP as the Chancellor of the Exchequer will not change things overnight, but if reports suggesting Rishi Sunak is set to transfer a significant number of the Treasury’s 1,500 posts to a new economic hub based in the Tees Valley prove correct, the region’s status and influence will be transformed.

Mr Sunak is understood to be keen to create a new economic decision-making body in the North in order to smooth the channelling of billions of pounds of public money to infrastructure projects outside London.

The Tees Valley has been mooted as a potential location for the new body, and we would wholeheartedly support the establishment of such a high-profile arm of government in the region.

Boris Johnson’s government is making the right noises when it comes to transferring power to the North – let us hope its actions prove as positive.