TORY minister James Wharton, who dismissed the closure of Redcar steelworks in England’s north-east as a “distraction,” is digging himself into an ever-deeper hole, saying one of Britain’s worst economic and jobless blackspots is “doing well.”

And he has drawn flak from a multimillionaire football club owner who said that Teesside voters would “bury him” at the next general election.

The Stockton South MP is minister for the so-called northern powerhouse.

Teesside faces losing 3,000 jobs with the closure of Thai-owned ISS steelworks at Redcar. The government refused financial help which could have saved the works.

Mr Wharton described the closure as a “distraction” from the northern powerhouse project.

Last week unemployment in England’s north-east soared by 12,000 — the only region in Britain to see an increase.

Now the minister, who enjoys free trips to Israel with the Parliamentary Friends of Israel group, has told the media: “Teesside is doing well.”

Middlesbrough FC owner Steve Gibson dubbed Mr Wharton a “clown.”

He said: “We have a local MP, James Wharton, who is supposed to be responsible for the northern powerhouse. He’s come across as an absolute clown. A joke.

“And he will become accountable at the next election.”

Secretary of TUC Northern Beth Farhat said: “The tsunami of job losses on Teesside that will emerge as a result of the government failure to support our steel industry will add several thousand more skilled people to unemployment and is a tragic waste.”