PEOPLE in Durham are paying more attention to Nicola Sturgeon's coronavirus briefings than Boris Johnson's, according to a doctor.

Dr Lisa Mckenzie said people in Durham think the First Minister "knows more about the north" than the Westminster Government.

She described Dominic Cummings travelling 250 miles from London to Durham during lockdown as a "three-ring circus".

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The doctor told Sky News: "I live in Durham. At the moment people up here are watching Nicola Sturgeon's press releases because they think that what she's saying is closer to them because they think she knows more about the north than what they do in London.

"I think this sort of three-ring circus, what we're seeing with the Cummings thing, you know at the moment I'm seeing the backdrop —"

She was then interrupted by the presenter who said: "Dominic Cummings was born and bred in Durham."

The doctor continued: "Yes he was and one of the reasons why he's got a power base is because he kind of understood London politics, in particular Islington politics doesn't work in the rest of the country. Now he's sort of been dragged into that Islington-Westminster bubble."