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A resurgent Labour Party have put Jack Lopresti MP on their hit list at the next election and told the Tory MP to “watch out”.

The Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency has been held by the Tory MP since it was created in 2010 – but Labour believe it could be theirs for the taking when the country next goes to the polls.

Mr Lopresti, an ex-Bristol City councillor, saw his 9,800 majority slashed by half at the snap election in June, with the gap between the Tories and Labour closed to 4,190 votes.

Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary and close ally of leader Jeremy Corbyn, revealed the South Gloucestershire seat is on Labour’s 80 “must win” marginal constituencies – a haul that could make Mr Corbyn Prime Minister.

Mr Corbyn visited Filton and Bradley Stoke during his summer tour of marginal constituencies in order to encourage campaigners to hit the streets.

The constituency list gathers together all the seats in the country which can be won with a five per cent swing in the polls or less.

Filton and Bradley Stoke would need a swing of just over four per cent to go red. It is one of only five in the South West which Labour is targeting.

Mrs Thornberry, when asked what message she had for the sitting Tory MP, said: “Watch out”.

The shadow cabinet member said the party needed to be “much more positive and aggressive” at the next election, having set out to run a defensive campaign in the summer in the face of dire opinion polls.

Labour were, according to some pollsters, 20 points behind Theresa May’s Conservatives.

But Mrs Thornberry said there was belief in the party once again after the shock hung parliament result which saw the Tory majority disappear.

In Bristol, the city went entirely red, with all three MPs boosting their majorities , while new MP Darren Jones ousted Tory Charlotte Leslie in Bristol North West.

The Labour Party is currently gathered in Brighton for its annual autumn conference where the mood is optimistic – a stark cry from last year's sombre event in Liverpool.

“We proved that if we are united, and united behind Jeremy and united behind a manifesto, that there is no seat we can’t win and no Tory we can’t bin,” said the Islington South and Finsbury MP.

“We have to recognise that and believe it. These are 80 seats where we can win with a less than five per cent swing – and that is perfectly do-able.”

Mr Lopresti spent time campaigning in other seats – paying a visit to neighbouring Thornbury and Yate where the Tories felt vulnerable to a Liberal Democrat revival.

Mrs Thornberry accused the governing party of being “complacent” about the result.

“They were clearly extraordinarily complacent and they were really just trying to work out how big Theresa May’s crown was going to be and how big the majority was going to be,” she said, speaking to the Bristol Post .

“And clearly Jeremy [Corbyn] defied all the pundits by just being relentlessly positive and putting out a positive message – and people found that really attractive because people are desperate for an alternative way.”

Filton is home to thousands of armed forces personnel and civil servants who work in the defence industry, being the home to Abbey Wood's Defence Procurement Agency, the Ministry of Defence’s major spending operation base, where it employs 4,400 people.

The area, as well as the MoD site, contains a number of key defence industry supply chain companies.

Mrs Thornberry said Labour had a message to convince those in the military and the defence industry to vote for the party when the country next gets the opportunity to have its say.

(Image: Nigel Talby)

“We’ve got a commitment to spend two per cent [of GDP] on defence – I think that is really important,” she said.

“But it is also about making sure we properly reflect the sacrifice and commitment of our armed forces.

“And that’s about ensuring that they are paid properly and also ensuring that their living conditions are proper.

“I know that Nia [Griffith, shadow defence secretary] has done a lot of work on this and I know she has worked with forces families.

“The way in which repairs are done really seep people’s morale – when you have a boiler that hasn’t worked in you don’t know how long, it makes you feel like you’re not valued.

“It is about time we started showing that we really do value and support those who are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for this country.”

Mr Lopresti’s office was approached for comment.