Tory leader William Hague spoke of the importance of local newspapers when he visited the headquarters of Newsquest
North-East in Darlington.

He was making a pre-election visit to his local newspapers – The Northern Echo and The Darlington & Stockton Times.

Asked about his views on local newspapers, Mr Hague said he believed they were more trusted by readers than national newspapers and that they were closer to their communities.

He acknowledged the penetration and power of the regional press and added that he always made a point of looking at the local papers wherever he was in the country.

He was shown the pioneering ‘Communigate’ initiative which has so far established free web sites for more than 400 community organisations in the North-East and North Yorkshire.

Mr Hague met children from Brompton-on-Swale Primary School, which has a Communigate site, where the youngsters asked him for a £10 donation for Comic Relief.

The Leader of the Opposition went on to informally discuss the forthcoming General Election with journalists from both The Northern Echo and the Darlington & Stockton Times before conducting on-the-record interviews with Chris Lloyd, the Echo’s political editor, and Malcolm Warne, editor of the Darlington & Stockton Times.

He said his party’s priority issues for the campaign would be keeping the pound, taxation, crime, and the countryside.

Before leaving after his 75-minute visit, Mr Hague signed the visitors’ book and posed for a picture with his official visitor’s badge – appropriately numbered 10!

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