Boris Johnson visited Brixham to campaign with Totnes Tory MP candidate Anthony Mangnall.

The prime minister gave his full backing to the prospective parliamentary candidate, who hopes to win the seat from former Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston.

The pair toured the harbour, spoke to fishermen and met with members of the public before buying a portion of fish and chips on Friday, August 23.

Mr Johnson said he thought Mr Mangnall would “do a great job” and said he wants to see him elected “as fast as possible”.

He said: “I think he’s a great candidate. He would represent this area brilliantly.

“I want to see Anthony elected as fast as possible, but I’m not going to talk about by-elections or any other such elections at this stage.”

When asked for his thoughts on Dr Wollaston, Mr Johnson instead took the opportunity to further endorse the new Tory candidate.

He said: "I think Anthony Mangnall is an outstanding candidate and will do a great job of representing the people of Brixham."

The visit did not go unnoticed by Dr Wollaston, who joked that the trip was a reaction to her recent move to the Liberal Democrats.

She tweeted: “After a decade of requests for cabinet ministers or PMs to visit Brixham and the Westcountry being taken for granted by the Conservatives...one finally arrives.

“Perhaps more Tory MPs should join the Lib Dems.”

She added that she welcomed the prime minister's visit, but "had hoped he would bring his cheque book and boost funding for Brixham harbour."

"Seems the only new funding so far from Johnson for this constituency is for Conservatives political attack ads," she tweeted.