Simon Clarke will not make a speech in person at the Conservative Party conference due to his agoraphobia, HuffPost UK understands.
The newly appointed levelling up secretary is not down on the agenda to give a speech in the main hall at next week’s annual conference.
It is usual that secretaries of state outline their priorities to party members in a big speech in the hall.
However, it is understood he will instead give a speech via video link on Monday afternoon.
The senior Tory MP has previously been praised for revealing he suffers with agoraphobia.
He first spoke out about his condition last year when he did not take part in the traditional Downing Street budget photographs.
Clarke, who was then chief secretary to the Treasury, said it stopped him “being comfortable in some open spaces”.
According to the NHS, agoraphobia is a fear of being in situations where escape might be difficult or that help would not be available if things go wrong.
Someone with agoraphobia may be scared of travelling on public transport, visiting a shopping centre and leaving home.
The MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland was appointed levelling up secretary in Liz Truss’s government earlier this month.
At last year’s party conference his predecessor Michael Gove set out the government’s vision for levelling up.
Gove said: “We want to strengthen local leadership to drive real change. We will raise living standards especially where they are lower. We will improve public services especially where they are weaker.
“And we will give people the resources necessary to enhance the pride they feel in the place they live.”
However, a question mark hangs over Truss’s government’s approach to levelling up after she did not mention it in her first speech as prime minister outside Downing Street.
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