Rishi Sunak has responded to The Northern Echo's six manifesto priorities, promising that his party will continue to improve areas of concern in the North East if reelected come July 4.

Whilst visiting Bishop Auckland walled gardens on Saturday, the Prime Minister sat down with The Northern Echo for an exclusive interview. 

He spoke about the Echo's six priorities for the North East: ensuring the future of the Hitachi factory in Newton Aycliffe; a public inquiry at a local mental health trust; a reduction in knife crime; a helping hand to get children out of poverty; exam boosts for A-level and GCSE students at a school riddled with RAAC; and increased availability in dental care. 

But detail on regional promises was scant as the Prime Minister outlined national pledges. 

Despite being challenged by the Echo before on his lack of a plan to save the Newton Aycliffe Hitachi factory,  Mr Sunak still did not have a definitive plan to keep it open if reelected. 

He promised that the Conservatives are "committed to a really robust rail manufacturing supply chain, because that's important to our country."

He added: "The investment that we're making in rail across the country is evidence of that, including in the North East, specifically on the Hitachi factory. 

"The Transport Secretary has been in regular dialogue to work through the options and do everything we can to make sure the factory can have a sustainable future."

Mr Sunak "won't rule out" an inquiry into beleaguered mental health trust Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys (TEWV), but believes it is best for investigations by the Healthcare Services Safety Investigations Body to conclude before the government takes inquiry action. 

Issues with the trust hit close to home - as one of the affected families, Jean Zaremba, who lost her beloved daughter Zoe while under TEWV care, lives in the Prime Minister's Richmond constituency. 

He added he "completely understands" the calls for a public inquiry into deaths at the Trust from heartbroken families. 

But information on how the Tories are planning to fix dental deserts and child poverty in the North East was limited. 

The Prime Minister believed his "plan is working" to increase the British public's access to dentists, with "500 dental practices have started accepting more NHS patients" since plans were announced to invest hundreds of millions into practices.

Though the North East has experienced one of the steepest increases in child poverty rates over much of the last decade, the Prime Minister said he was "proud that since 2010 we've reduced the number of children living in poverty meaningfully."

He believes the best way to get children out of poverty is good jobs for parents - and has promised that schemes like the Teesside Freeport will continue to provide high quality jobs for the North East. 

Mr Sunak believed his schismatic National Service promise could be part of the solution for knife crime, which disproportionately impacts young people. 

He believes it will give youngsters "skills and opportunities, and a sense of belonging and purpose."

He added that national service would "foster a more cohesive society", and cited stats that 1000 more police officers are on North East streets over the last few years. 

It looks as though St Leonard's, the Durham City secondary school thought to be the "worst affected" by the RAAC crisis, still will not be receiving exam grade boosts this summer, even though students, parents and teachers have said that this year's disruption has been crippling for education. 

Get the latest news, sports, and entertainment delivered straight to your device by subscribing to The Northern Echo here. 

The school has been added to the School Rebuilding Programme, and affected buildings will be completely rebuilt over the coming years. 

Mr Sunak said: "I know that in the case of St Leonard's, officials in the Department have worked closely with the school, and I am grateful to all of them for their close collaboration.

"We have also worked closely with Ofqual in addition to asking awarding organisations to agree longer extensions for coursework and non-examined assessment."