UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak popped into the old Honda site in South Marston this morning to mark the ground breaking of the new Panattoni Park.
The old Honda site will be demolished completely over the next ten months ahead of the £900m construction of business and logistical facilities by Panattoni, and it is hoped the site will eventually employ more than 7,000 people when completed in approximately five years time.
Speaking to a huddle of reporters after breaking ground at the new development, the Prime Minister said: "I am here today to celebrate one of the largest investments in the South West. When completed this site will create thousands and thousands of high quality jobs for the area.
"This is great news for Swindon and great news for the entire region and it is testament to the hard work of our local MPs Robert Buckland and Justin Tomlinson, who have worked tirelessly to make this happen.
"Swindon has such good transport links which is why it is such an attractive place for investment like this. With news like this Swindon definitely has a brighter future."
Pausing from praising the new Panattoni development, he added: "Keir Starmer visited Swindon about a year ago and promised a council tax freeze but when the new Labour administration came in that didn't happen at all. I've also heard about the debacle of the waste and recycling collections under the new administration. It gives you a taste of what happens under Labour.
"We have two very good hard-working MPs in Swindon and just being here today and seeing what they've achieved by getting this project off the ground, you are able to see how beneficial things are under The Conservatives.
"We're making great strides forward but you'd be right back at square one under Labour so everyone needs to make their vote count."
The Honda car plant eventually closed in 2021, having been one of the biggest employers in the town since 1985.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by both South Swindon MP Robert Buckland and North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson.
After the PM's visit, Justin Tomlinson said: "We are absolutely thrilled that Rishi Sunak visited today. Both me and Robert have worked very hard for Swindon since 2010 when we became the MPs for this town.
"And we both pushed to ensure that this development got through the planning stages as quickly as possible to ensure the town's future success. One thing that this development tells the world is that Swindon is open for business."
Robert Buckland said: "One of the great things about Swindon is its ability to reinvent itself. It reinvented itself from a railway town to a car manufacturing town and now once again it is reinventing itself for the next generation.
"It is that strength of versality of always being able to evolve that makes Swindon such a great town for people to live in and work.
"The PM's visit today highlights the good news story of Swindon and how it will be a prosperous place for years to come."
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