CONSERVATIVE candidate Luke Hall had fresh support for his re-election campaign today following a visit to Thornbury by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

James Brokenshire, who has served as the Northern Ireland Secretary since July last year, joined Mr Hall in a visit to Heritage in Thornbury, getting a tour of the shop from owner Tabi Marsh and her father Gary, before enjoying refreshments in the coffee shop garden.

The group chatted about the progress of the general election and also discussed the recent history of the High Street shop, which was almost completely destroyed in a fire in September 2015.

 Less than three months later, the gift shop had reopened its doors to the public, but with extensive work needed in the coffee shop, an entire rebuild was needed before it opened in November last year.

Mr Brokenshire told the Gazette he was delighted to have been invited to meet Mr Hall at the shop, highlighting the importance of keeping connected to local businesses in the constituency.

“Getting feedback from local businesses really important,” he said. “In this region we have 102,000 new small businesses that have set up since 2010.

“We want to see more of that and see the economy thrive and flourish because that is the bedrock of local economies, creating more local jobs.

“Of course we have done very well since 2010, seeing that increase in the South West to about 255,000 more people in employment, but its how we need to go further, listening to the feedback, and campaigning on those issues, which I know Luke has been doing a lot of here in his local area.

“Good local campaigning is important, something Luke has a strong track record of doing, underlined by this visit here today.”

He added that the economy, the jobs that have been created and the direction of the country was reliant on the voice of the people on June 8, and encouraged residents to make sure they use their vote.

“Getting out to vote makes an enormous difference,” he said. “We can’t put the achievements of our country, and what we need to do next, at risk by not using our vote.”

Mr Hall, who was involved with helping Heritage get back on track, said: “It is great to be in such a fantastic local business, Heritage in Thornbury has rebuilt itself after the fire and is doing incredibly well.”

He thanked Mr Brokenshire for his support during the visit, saying that it “underlines is the importance of Thornbury and Yate towards the national result.

“There has never been a conservative government without a conservative MP in this seat,” he said.

“What I want to continue to highlight locally is that if we want a strong and stable government through Brexit and beyond, then we need to return a Conservative MP locally.”

Ms Marsh said how pleased she was to see so many people visiting the shop to enjoy the good weather, and that with “lots of families and friends back visiting regularly there is the same buzz the shop had before the fire.”

She added: “Luke was really helpful when we were struggling with insurance companies and getting the rebuild on track. It took a lot longer than we had hoped, and it was brilliant to have the support of our MP.

“To just have someone come and chat properly with us, rather than ‘Hi – photo – then off was really reassuring.”