Jeremy Corbyn announced to hundreds of Labour supporters that the party will win the Rochford and Southend East constituency from the Tories at the next general election.

In a speech to party members at the Palace Hotel on Pier Hill yesterday, the leader of the opposition announced his intention to further close the gap on the Conservatives, having lost the seat in Rochford and Southend East by nearly 6,000 votes in June.

Mr Corbyn told his Southend supporters: “You almost halved the Tory majority in this constituency, absolute congratulations on doing that.

“That was not done by staying at home, you did that because you went out there and did that campaigning and got that contact rate with the local community.

“In the next general election, let’s take that further. I will be on the phone immediately when that candidate is selected to congratulate them on their selection as the candidate and then we will be here again with you.

“If we are to win a general election whenever it may come, whether it be next year, the year after or whenever, we are ready for it.”

The Labour leader’s visit to Southend was part of a new consultation on the Government’s fisheries bill and growing trade in seaside towns.

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Holly Lynch MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Coastal Communities, said:

“Well managed fisheries and sustainable fishing practices mean more fish, more jobs, and a greater contribution to the UK economy in the long term.

“There is a unique opportunity as we leave the EU to transform the way we manage our fisheries to drive economic prosperity, tourism and environmental benefits to our beautiful and unique British coast.

“Labour believes the unique position of coastal communities should not be confined to the past, but should be part of an innovative, thriving and sustainable future.”

Mr Corbyn added: “Seaside towns hold a special place in our country’s history but they have been left behind by the Conservatives.

“Instead of being neglected and starved of investment, our coastal communities have enormous potential as centres for creative, digital and offshore industries.

“Labour will invest in all communities around the thousands of miles of our coastline and will work with them as we transform our economy so it serves the interests of the many, not the few.

“The purpose of our visit is part of our policy development we are doing all around the country where we are looking into how we develop our ideas on a fair and just economy, how we look at seaside towns and the levels of opportunity and the levels of poverty and stress that are there.”

Mr Corbyn, who travelled to Southend by train yesterday told The Echo he was concerned about public transport, and that it needs to become more effective for people who want to visit seaside towns from London and other cities.

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He said: “In the election alone, I did 7,000 miles, I have had to travel here on a weekend also, and it is absolutely awful, it is just packed out.”

He ended his visit to huge applause, putting the Conservative party “on notice” following a general election that saw Labour gain a significant amount of ground on the Government.

He said: “We now have a government that is in office and on notice, they did a deal with the DUP and offered them £1billion.

“They seem to have plenty of money for those kinds of deals and they are not doing terribly well. We are going to win the election on policies that actually work for people, all over the country, including Southend.”