“I want to keep my job. I haven’t voted in a general election, but I’ll start now. I’m definitely voting Labour,” said one Honda (HMC) worker walking briskly to his afternoon shift at its factory on the outskirts of Swindon.

The carmaker announced plans to close the plant earlier this year, putting 3,500 jobs at risk and sending shockwaves through the town in south-west England.

The Japanese firm has repeatedly said it was not about Brexit — instead emphasising that it’s to remain competitive as it pushes to make more electrified vehicles. But several workers and local politicians told Yahoo Finance UK they believed it may have influenced the decision.

The closure looms large over the tight Conservative-Labour race in South Swindon, with at least one employee hopeful a Labour victory would see Brexit stopped and the plant kept open.

READ MORE: Lib Dems struggle to break through even in Britain’s most Remain seats

The marginal constituency has proved a bellwether seat, mirroring the national election result for the past two decades. If the Conservatives’ 2,464-vote majority were overturned on election night, it would bode well for Labour’s hopes of forming a government.

But Conservative candidate and minister Robert Buckland will be hoping his party’s pledge to deliver Brexit — and carmakers’ clear challenges beyond Brexit — are enough to hold on to his seat in the Leave-voting town.

Thousands of jobs at risk from factory closure

View photos The Honda announcement will affect the wider town. Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images More

More than one in 10 cars made in the UK was built at Honda’s Swindon plant, one of several opened by Japanese carmakers in Britain in the 1980s. Cars from its Civic range are exported to more than 70 countries worldwide.

But one Monday morning in May, its 3,500 employees were told the factory would close in 2021, in a devastating blow for the town.

The announcement of 950 more job losses in October at a second Honda site next door – Honda Logistics, which supplies it with parts, compounded the disappointment. Other suppliers across the south-west will also suffer.

One worker in his 40s told Yahoo Finance UK: “I might lose my house. I’ve got a mortgage which I’m thinking ‘how am I going to pay.’ Everyone’s very sad, stressed in fact. It will not just impact people there, but on the outside, families and stuff.”

READ MORE: What the UK general election could mean for jobs in the UK

A 21-year-old employee said it was “shocking” and took workers by surprise, adding that he might look for a job in Aldi. “Everyone was like — what are they going to do now?”

Several voters interviewed in the town centre also said they had relatives or other connections to workers at the plant, one of Swindon’s major employers.

“It’s a big blow. Generations have worked there, and it’s not just those people – there’s a lot of parts companies. My midwife’s son and husband work there,” said Sarah Kinsella, out shopping in town.

‘Not influenced by Britain’s plans to leave the EU’

View photos The Honda car factory in Swindon is due to close in 2021. Photo: Eddie Keogh/Reuters More

Honda’s message could not be clearer: “This decision is not influenced by Britain’s plans to leave the EU.”

A spokesman told Yahoo Finance UK the decision was part of a shift towards electric cars, and towards production bases in its biggest markets — China, the US and Japan.

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