From a Weymouth chippy to Westminster: Meet the West Country's youngest MP

• Political correspondent Lucy McDaid spent the day with new South Dorset MP Lloyd Hatton

The South West's youngest newly elected MP spent eight years working part-time in a Weymouth fish and chip shop, but from a young age his taste was clearly for politics.

In 2013, before he could even vote, a teenage Lloyd Hatton wrote to his local MP, Conservative Richard Drax, in support of the legalisation of same sex marriage.

Drax, now Hatton's predecessor, consistently voted against allowing same-sex couples to marry.

"I just felt the response I got wasn't very receptive," Hatton says. "We did disagree, but I didn't feel my concerns or my thoughts were being listened to."

It's a moment Hatton credits as one of the first that sparked his interest in politics: "I suppose when you don't feel you're being represented effectively you think maybe we should have a different person and a different outlook.

"For me that was one of the first moments where I became interested in politics. It matters who holds positions, who wins elections, who goes to Westminster. It matters."

Now 28, Lloyd was born at Dorset County Hospital and grew up in Weymouth. At weekends he worked with his Dad in the Marlboro, a popular chippy by the seafront. It's a bit of a family affair. Hatton jokes: "I think my dad actually proposed to my mum around the back!"

Labour's historic landslide on 5 July saw Keir Starmer's Party take seats from the Conservatives that even they weren't expecting to win.

Despite previously being held by Labour, the South Dorset seat was considered fairly safe for the Tories, having been held by Richard Drax for 14 years.

It was a closely fought battle, but Hatton won with 15,659 votes and a majority of 1,048.

"We knew it was always going to be a big challenge to win here, but we knew we had won here before," Hatton explains.

"I think people were looking for that change. We felt that when we were talking to voters and listening to voters on the doorstep. And lots of people looked to Labour to deliver that.

"l never really ever considered standing anywhere else before. I thought if I was going to do this it has to be at home where all my friends, my family, my neighbours are. For me it's a real proud moment to represent my community."

The South Dorset constituency is largely known as an outstanding holiday hotspot with the Jurassic Coast, Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door, but it has most recently been in the spotlight for housing the controversial Bibby Stockholm barge for asylum seekers.

Within weeks of winning the general election, the new Labour government announced it would end use of the barge in January 2025.

"We knew that if the barge had stayed around for much longer and the contract had been extended, it would have cost the taxpayer an extra £20million just next year alone.

"That's a really big amount of money and it would have been a complete waste, so it was really important that we made that decision."

According to the Home Office, the asylum applications of those on board will now be processed with extreme "urgency".

As of the end of July, £218,208 has been spent in three months by Dorset Council, on costs related to the barge and housing the asylum seekers.

On the issue of dwindling public trust in elected MPs, 28-year-old Hatton acknowledged it's a "huge issue" and one that needs to be tackled by all parties.

"We have to take the fact that people have very low confidence in electoral representatives to get on with the job," he said.

"It's incumbent on us to try and reset that relationship and rebuild trust."

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