Success in Sunderland is paving the way for a Tory breakthrough in the North East, according to David Cameron.
Speaking to the Echo, the Conservative leader revealed he will be keeping a close eye on the city as the party strides towards the next General Election.
Mr Cameron was in the region to launch the Tory's election campaign ahead of June 4, when vot
ers will head to the polls for European, council and mayoral elections.
Sunderland is not holding council elections this year, but Mr Cameron praised the inroads Wearside Conservatives have made in the past few years and heaped praise on their leader Coun Lee Martin.
"I think he's done a brilliant job in showing how Conservatives can win in the North and how we can win in urban areas," he told the Echo.
"Anyone who says we'll find it tough in northern cities will do well to look at Sunderland and what the Conservatives have done, and it will be one of the places I'll be watching on election night."
Coun Martin is hoping to be the first Conservative MP for Sunderland in more than three decades. He is running in the Sunderland Central seat against Labour's candidate Julie Elliott.
Boundary changes mean the new seat contains more Tory council wards than the present constituencies, and the Conservatives are confident they can win.
But Ms Elliott today shrugged off Mr Cameron's remarks and said there was nothing to suggest the Tories would succeed in a General Election.
"People vote differently at local elections than they do at national elections. People vote on local issues and some don't vote," she said.
Ms Elliott said her campaign team were out in every area of the Sunderland Central constituency and from the response they had had she firmly believed Labour would win.
She admitted that sometimes there was a protest vote against the Government and some Labour voters had admitted to her they voted differently at a local election.
But she said at General Elections people knew there was only Labour and Tory to choose from and they would vote Labour.
Mr Cameron chose Tynemouth for his campaign launch, and Ms Elliott said the area was a prime example of people voting differently at local and national elections.
"Tynemouth is a prime example. If local elections results were reflected at the General Election it wouldn't have a Labour MP," she said.
Speaking at the launch in North Tyneside, Mr Cameron said a Conservative Government would freeze council tax levels for two years and require local authorities to publish every item of public spending online to encourage efficiency and make sure the public knew where their money was going.
Mr Cameron said he had spent his three years as Tory leader developing policies and, while internal strife may help the Conservative cause, he had not simply been waiting for Labour to "screw up".
