Hugo Fearnley says Labour's Brexit policy was hard to get across to voters

Hugo Fearnley was trying to overturn Conservative Robert Goodwill’s 3,500 majority in the seaside constituency and said that Brexit came up a lot on the doorstep.

He said: “I have learned that nuance is quite difficult to get across on the doorstep, especially against a clear message.

“In a 62 per cent leave seat, Brexit was always going to be a big issue.”

He added that while the policy was “sensible” and looked to “respect the result” of the referendum as well as try to heal the divide between leave and remain voters, it may not have got through as well as the Tories’ slogan of “get Brexit done”.

Mr Fearnley added he was “proud” of his campaign and the way it had engaged with voters.

He said: “The people we spoke to have concerns that will not be solved by us being in or out of the EU. A lot of people raised concerns about the NHS and poverty levels locally.”