THE shadow chancellor will visit two 'Tory-held' marginal towns in the North-East and North Yorkshire as part of his nationwide tour to highlight the party's plans to “revive the economy” and “raise living standards” across the country.

In November, Labour’s John McDonnell will visit Whitby and Scarborough to address “poverty” and “social deprivation" at coastal towns, while he will also visit the 'Tory-held' Middlesbrough South and Cleveland East constituencies.

In Whitby and Scarborough, he will meet residents living in the Tory-held ‘marginal’ coastal seat of Whitby and Scarborough, as he tries to counteract the current government’s economic policies.

The constituency is represented by Conservative MP Robert Goodwill and agriculture minister, who preceded Labour’s Lawrie Quinn as MP in 2005.

Over the past decade, the Conservatives have marginally managed to hold onto its Scarborough and Whitby seat.

In the 2017 general elections, the Conservatives kept the constituency, garnering 24,000 votes, while Labour candidate Eric Broadbent trailed closely behind 20,000 votes.

Mr McDonnell said: “Different areas have had different experiences over the last two generations and after a successful first year of Labour’s Road to Rebuilding the Economy tour, we are now taking our campaign further afield.

"British towns, coast to coast, have lost their traditional industries.

"Nothing has filled that gap and they have been let down badly by the Tory government, which has inflicted over nine years of austerity on these communities.

"Our struggling high streets are one of the clearest symptoms of the government’s failure to invest in our communities – Labour will deliver a fair deal for Britain’s coastal communities.”

In response to the planned visits, Mr Goodwill told The Northern Echo: "If John McDonnell gets anywhere near 11 Downing Street, the whole area and country will become deprived.

The Northern Echo:

“There’s obviously some areas that we are addressing – in Scarborough – particularly some of our secondary schools which have received investment.

“We do recognise there are some problems, but they are being addressed.

“I would hope when John McDonnell comes to the constituency, he would go to see the Sirius Minerals, near Whitby, which is creating thousands jobs.

“He might also want to visit the McCain oven chip factory in Scarborough, who are investing £100 million.

"Or he might want to visit Plaxtons, the bus and coach body-builders, based in Scarborough, who have just been bought by an American company."