Regional dailies covering the constituencies of Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have stepped up their coverage as the rival Tories vie to be the next Prime Minister.

The Eastern Daily Press has declared its belief that South West Norfolk MP Ms Truss is the “favourite to win” after making the final two of the Conservative leadership contest.

However, neither the EDP or the Northern Echo, which covers Mr Sunak’s Richmond constituency, have come out expressly in favour of their local candidate.

Instead, the Darlington-based Echo has launched a poll of readers asking them who they believe should win the race for 10 Downing Street.

How the Echo covered Mr Sunak’s leadership bid launch

Posting on Twitter about the survey on Friday, Echo editor Gavin Foster wrote: “I was asked yesterday who we were backing for the Tory leadership race – my answer was that’s not for me or the Northern Echo to decide, we’ll back who our readers want to see run the country.”

Richard Porritt, editor of the EDP’s Archant sister daily the Norwich Evening News, has recalled his past experience of encountering Ms Truss in an editorial weighing up her leadership bid.

Richard wrote: “Ms Truss is gregarious and friendly in private but determined to be steely and tough in public. Unfortunately this doesn’t always work.

“She has a skill for the awkward and the odd – who can forget her infamous 2014 conference speech? It. Was. A. Disgrace.

“I was in that audience. As the confused yet amused delegates shuffled out few of them would have believed the environment minister who had spent so long banging on about pork markets and cheese imports would one day be a hair’s breadth from the threshold of Number 10.

“But that is Ms Truss’ biggest skill. She is robust, thick-skinned and above all else she is relentless. And, up against Rishi Sunak, I believe she is now the favourite to win and be crowned PM on 5 September.”

The Portsmouth News had previously given strong backing to one of its local MPs, Penny Mordaunt, before she was eliminated from the contest in the final ballot of MPs.