A senior Conservative ejected from the Canterbury Christ Church University hustings after heckling Labour's general election candidate has been branded a "rude berk".

Rosie Duffield was only seconds into her opening statement when Cllr Neil Baker accused her of "just reading words" from a paper she had in front of her.

And as Ms Duffield discussed Labour's spending commitments, Cllr Baker yelled: "How are you going to pay for it?"

His outbursts were met with cries of "let her speak" from the packed Old Sessions House auditorium.

Moments later Cllr Baker, the Conservatives' local vice-chairman, was asked to leave.
His ejection came just minutes into the showpiece pre-election debate for the Canterbury and Whitstable constituency.

Tweeting from the meeting, Labour Party activist Dave Wilson said: "Rude heckling berk Neil Baker evicted from #CCCUhustings17. #idiot."

After the meeting Ms Duffield said: "I feel sorry for Cllr Baker. He has embarrassed himself and people are probably going to give him a bit of gyp about it."

Cllr Baker represents the Tankerton ward at Canterbury City Council and is a prominent figure in authority's Conservative administration.

When asked about his ejection from the hustings, Cllr Baker said: "Yes, I may have misjudged the mood of the meeting and decided to get a heckle in before anyone else started. I should know better."

Ms Duffield was joined in the debate by the other three candidates for the Canterbury and Whitstable seat. They are Conservative Sir Julian Brazier, Lib Dem James Flanagan and Henry Stanton of the Green Party.

Sir Julian was also repeatedly heckled by sections of the audience.