BRADFORD has made the final four shortlist of cities in the running to become the home of the Treasury's new northern headquarters, it has been reported.

The city will reportedly go up against Leeds, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Darlington in County Durham to decide where Treasury North will be based.

It's understood, a national newspaper has reported, that the Chancellor Rishi Sunak will make a decision this weekend with the chosen city announced in next week's Budget.

If Bradford is selected, it would see 22,000 civil servants moved out of London by 2030, with the initial swathe of job moves seeing 750 officials from several Government departments moved up north.

The move is seen by the Government as a big part of it's "levelling up" agenda.

Many areas in the north, such as in Keighley, switched from Labour to the Conservatives on the back of Boris Johnson's 'Get Brexit Done' promise, and Johnson has promised to rebalance the UK's lopsided economy by moving jobs out of London and brought up north.

The commitment to levelling up the north has been brought into question a number of times, including the government’s decision to cut Transport for the North’s core budget by 40 per cent from April.

The Prime Minister's inaction over last year's flooding in West Yorkshire was also heavily criticised, as has the Government's Covid-19 support packages, which many northern MPs claim have failed to address the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on northern communities.