In a week where Tory MPs have reportedly been told to use the terms 'gauging up' or 'stepping up' for fear that 'nobody knows what levelling up means', Rishi Sunak's audience today showed that they understand it exactly.
As Sunak stood in front of his audience in the seaside town reeling off a list of northern towns that have been allocated money in this latest round of the government's Levelling Up Fund, one woman only had one question on her mind: 'Can we have some more please?'.
There were laughs, but it's not a question any in the PM's Yorkshire constituency of Richmond, which was allocated £19 million of the fund, are likely to be asking. He has been accused of favouritism, as well as of 'shovelling money' into the south, instead of sending it where it is most needed - leaving northerners hungry.
READ MORE: Levelling Up fund slammed as 'final nail in the coffin'
Addressing his audience, Sunak was keen to remind them of his northern credentials. "I represent a rural area in northern England as well," he told them.
But standing 80 miles away from his wealthy north Yorkshire constituency, it felt the man who occupies 10 Downing Street could do with a reminder himself that the north is not one homogenous place.
Morecambe was branded a 'big winner', as today it found out it will receive £50m to help regenerate a derelict site and transform it into The Eden Project's northern hub. The announcement was lauded by the town's locals - but wasn't enough to ward off questions about empty storefronts and difficult times, to which residents were told: 'We can't do everything'.
The PM also took the opportunity to discuss pressing national issues including public transport, telling his audience that it was in his interest to sort any issues with trains between London and the north to ensure he could get home at the weekend.
"The thing that makes opportunity real is for people to be able to get to the job," he added. Shortly after, he was criticised for taking a private jet to Lancashire this morning, instead of making use of the train.
Despite pleas for more, Sunak insisted the Conservative's levelling up projects are making a difference in the region. “I really feel when I do my visits across the north now, people do feel something has changed,” he told voters.
Sunak finished his visit in Morecambe with a tour of the site of the Eden Project, where one passer-by shouted: “Lend us 20 quid for my heating bill, Rishi". Morecambe may be changing, but some just see more of the same.
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