North Somerset
- Party
- Labour
- Region
- South West
Sadik Al-Hassan
MP's page on parliament.ukPhoto: © House of Commons/Roger Harris (CC BY 3.0), cropped
The cost of Brexit · UK-wide
Brexit's estimated hit to UK economic output (GVA) in 2023
−£188.8bn
−7.7% of output
That's about £2,835 for every person in the UK, compared with an estimate of where the economy would have been without Brexit.
Source: Brexit Cost Project (Alabrese, Edenhofer, Fetzer and Wang, 2026), real terms at 2019 prices
What rejoining could mean · UK-wide
Long-term boost to the UK economy (GDP) from EU membership
+£92bn
at least
Plus at least £43bn a year more in UK exports.
What rejoining could mean here
Estimated boost to the South West's economy (GVA) each year from EU membership
+£639m
a year
Brexit has cost the North Somerset council area an estimated £3.4m a year since 2016.
How is this worked out?
Gross value added (GVA) is the value of the goods and services produced in an area.
Researchers at the Brexit Cost Project compared each council area's actual output with an estimate of what it would have been without Brexit. They built that estimate from a weighted mix of economies elsewhere, in Europe, the US and other advanced economies, whose output tracked the area's closely before the 2016 referendum.
The difference between the two is the estimated effect of Brexit. It's a modelled estimate, not a measured loss, and the researchers say it should be read as evidence of how places diverged after 2016 rather than as precise accounting.
The figure shown is the average gap for each year from 2016 to 2023, the latest year of official local output data. It's in real terms, at 2019 prices, and is the headline estimate on this council area's page at brexitcost.org. The council area may be larger or smaller than the constituency.
Source: Frontier Economics; council figure from the Brexit Cost Project
What voters think in North Somerset
Which EU relationship people in North Somerset most want the UK Government to propose
When they had to choose one
About this survey
YouGov surveyed 11,927 people. The survey was carried out between 27th May – 11th June 2026.
The survey was conducted using an online interview of members of the YouGov Plc GB panel of 400,000+ individuals who have agreed to take part in surveys.
Voices from North Somerset
I am no economist but I can't see how we can boost our economy without a closer relationship with the EU. I am now retired but used to be in the IT industry and worked for several international companies which involved a certain amount of travel to other EU countries. As a result I can see that there is a difference between migration and freedom of movement and people, including politicians need to recognise this. Freedom of movement in my case involved going to another country for a few days for business purposes and then returning home. This was done with ease before the UK left the EU. If we were in the Schengen area then it would be even easier. I would like my grandchildren to have the same opportunities as I have to live and work in other European countries. I would also have no objection if the UK adopted the Euro currency which would make travel to Europe that much easier. The idea that the pound sterling is set in stone is not reasonable when so many financial transactions are made online.
Richard Harman
9 November 2026
We ARE a European country and should be working with our neighbours to promote peace, to help the environment and to defend the world against the craziness that is the US at the moment. We need to work together to ensure our safety with regard to Russia and to defend Ukraine against the outrageous attacks. There has to be a strong voice and we must be part of it. The referendum in 2016 was not conducted properly; parameters should have been set in advance beyond which things should not have changed. It is important that our young people have access to Europe for both further education and for work opportunities and we should be able to have a share in this. Politically and economically, having at least some formal link with the EU makes sense. We have lost so much by leaving the EU and I hope that we can gradually create links with our neighbours that will strengthen our friendship for the future.
Susan Ryan
8 November 2026
We should rejoin the EU as full members. We would get improved travel arrangements (for all of us: students, holiday-makers and retired people). We would get freer movement of food, including exports from North Somerset. We would be part of a bloc large enough to regulate the rapacious companies (Meta, Google, Palantir, BP, Shell, ...) that are destroying our economies and our environment.
Dr David V. Bowen
8 November 2026
Which sectors could benefit most from EU membership?
North Somerset has:
people employed in manufacturing, mining and utilities
people employed in retail and wholesale
people employed in accommodation and food services
as its biggest employing industry
Why these jobs matter for our relationship with Europe
These three industries employ people in every constituency, and each depends on how easily goods, services and people move between the UK and Europe.
Manufacturing: Frontier Economics found that 81% of the £43 billion a year growth in exports from EU membership would come from manufacturing.
Retail: Rejoining the EU would remove the customs checks and paperwork that have added red tape and costs for shops and their suppliers since Brexit, making it cheaper and simpler to stock goods from Europe.
Food services: Pubs, restaurants and hotels have struggled to fill vacancies since free movement ended. EU membership would let them recruit seasonal workers from across Europe again and help bring down costs for hospitality businesses across the country.
Sources and methodology
- GVA gap caused by Brexit: Brexit Cost Project
- People employed by industry and biggest employing industry: Census 2021, Office for National Statistics
- People employed by industry in Scotland: Scotland's Census 2022, National Records of Scotland
- Support for full EU membership: YouGov for Best for Britain
- Regional GVA boost: Frontier Economics for Best for Britain
- Postcode lookup: postcodes.io, using ONS data
- MP details and photos: UK Parliament Members API
Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026. Contains NRS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.