He was Foreign Secretary for three years under Gordon Brown and could have been addressing the Labour Party conference in Liverpool as its leader last month.

Instead, David Miliband was at a community centre in Canterbury meeting people from the Northgate ward, the only ward in the city which has a Labour councillor.

The 46-year-old had been invited to Canterbury by Labour students at Kent University and was due to speak to them on Wednesday night.

But first he visited the Northgate Ward Community Centre in Military Road where he met Labour students.

Speaking to the Gazette, he said: "We have some very active and campaigning students here in Kent and I have spoken to them about politics.

"We have been talking about the big changes taking place in politics, in British politics and in international politics.

"These students have also been looking at issues such as crime and unemployment.

"But I have also been out speaking to local people and listening to their concerns."

There is only one Labour councillor in the city of Canterbury, only three in the district and only three county councillors.

After visiting the community centre and speaking to people from the area, Mr Miliband was taken on a walkabout around Canterbury city centre.

He said: "It's obviously well-known for its church links and it also has four universities, but it is so much more than that.

"It may be a Conservative city at the moment, but there are no no-go areas for Labour and that's one reason for being here."

Alan Baldock, the Labour councillor for Northgate, was among those who turned out for Mr Miliband's visit.

He said: "It was absolutely brilliant for him to have come.

"I really hope he will have seen what that Northgate is not such a bad place to live even though we have lots of problems in light of the cuts and the hardship people are suffering."