Sir Keir Starmer praises Portsmouth as a 'fantastic city' following Labour Party leadership campaign visit

Sir Keir met with Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan, as well as other Labour members, with five weeks to go before a new party leader is elected.

During his visit, Sir Keir gave his thoughts on how the city should tackle its air quality problem, his strengthening relationship with Stephen Morgan, and the future of shipbuilding in the city.

He said: ‘This is a fantastic city and I’m beginning to really get a grip of we need to do here.

‘It’s really important that we tackle air quality - London has an issue with it and Portsmouth is the same, but it doesn’t go away with inaction.

‘The answer is cycling schemes, but they have to be integrated, with the cycle lanes to support it.

‘Whatever party you vote for it’s important that we do something about it.’

Arriving at Portsmouth Harbour railway station after campaigning in Brighton earlier in the day, the visit was Sir Keir’s third to the city in the past year, hosted each time by Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan.

‘It’s fantastic to have Stephen’s support,’ Sir Keir said.

‘We’ve been talking a lot about why Labour lost the election, but we have to also ask how people like Stephen increased their majority’s

‘To win seats we need people like him who are well-known and liked around the place; there’s a real sense of engagement.

‘I would certainly hope that Portsmouth South becomes a safe Labour seat, but we need to give Stephen some red neighbours too.’

Even before his election to Westminster, Mr Morgan has campaigned to bring shipbuilding back to the city.

Sir Keir has now also pledged his backing to this.

He said: ‘I would love to bring shipbuilding back and I think there’s a future for it here.

‘There’s everything we need for it in Portsmouth - it’s the perfect place and so I would support Stephen in that.’