LABOUR leader Sir Keir Starmer said his party has got “great aspirations for Somerset” during a visit to Hinkley Point C on Monday.

But the leader of the opposition says Labour must work hard to earn votes from local people with positive and forward-thinking policies for the county. 

Somerset has not had a Labour MP since 1950, when Victor Collins (Taunton) lost his seat to Conservative candidate Henry Hopkinson and Walter Farthing's Frome constituency disappeared.  

The county elected five Conservative MPs at the last general election in 2019, and the Liberal Democrats assumed control of Somerset Council last year.

Labour and the Green Party each have five councillors on the unitary authority, compared to 61 Liberal Democrats and 36 Conservatives.

During his visit, Sir Keir spoke to apprentices and staff members at the nuclear construction site near Bridgwater before speaking to the media in front of the unit one reactor building.

Somerset County Gazette: The Labour leader visited Hinkley Point C in Somerset on Monday, June 5.The Labour leader visited Hinkley Point C in Somerset on Monday, June 5. (Image: Ben Birchall, PA Wire)

Asked if Labour can win in Somerset, he told the County Gazette: “Somerset really matters.

“One of the inspiring things about being here at Hinkley Point C is to see people from across Somerset coming here.

“Young people in particular; I’ve spoken to local apprentices who’ve skilled up in the local college with all different skills, and I want to see more projects like that in Somerset, because they secure jobs for the future.

“We need housing that is affordable for people in Somerset. We’ve got great aspirations for Somerset.

“I know that we have to be humble and we have to earn every vote, and we will do that, I think, by setting out a positive case for Somerset, a positive case for the south west and for our country, which is not about the past but looking forward to the future and seizing the future, and Hinkley Point C is just an example of what you can do when you pull people together to deliver.

“This will be powering the country for 100 years. That’s a fantastic thing to have in Somerset.”

The next general election is scheduled to be held no later than January 28, 2025.

Every seat in the Somerset Council area has been held by the Conservatives for at least eight years after they gained Taunton Deane and Wells from the Lib Dems.

In the Bridgwater and West Somerset ward – which includes Hinkley Point – Ian Liddell-Grainger has won every election with an increased majority since 2001.

On Monday, Sir Keir praised Hinkley's workers but accused the government of a pattern of “dither and delay” on issues ranging from nuclear power to small boat crossings. 

He said: “There is a frustration that we’ve got a government that yet again is holding our country back, because this project (Hinkley Point C) should have been delivered by now.

“It’s not because of the workforce. They’re fantastically motivated, incredibly skilled.

“They want to deliver on this project. They feel passionately that there’s 100 years of our future locked up here.”