The Conservatives are trusted most to deliver on Brexit, according to an exclusive poll of voters in Kent and Medway.

Nearly 70% believe the party is best placed to negotiate the UK’s exit from the EU.

The decision by the Prime Minister to place Brexit at the centre of the campaign seems to have been partly vindicated on the basis of our survey - despite a faltering campaign.

Asked who they trusted most to deliver a successful deal, 69% of non-Conservative voters backed Theresa May with one in five Labour supporters saying the Conservatives would do a better job.

And there is no sign that if the referendum was held again, voters in Kent would be inclined to change their mind.

All but one district - Tunbridge Wells - voted to leave the EU in the referendum last year.

Indeed, Kent residents are more positive towards Brexit than they were pre-referendum. Given the chance, they would vote the same again.

As to whether voters believe the UK would be better off outside the EU, 52% agree compared to 40% in a poll carried out by the KM Group ahead of the referendum last year.

There is also good news for the Conservatives on the economic front: The party is seen as most trusted to manage the economy and even sees this trust amongst other party voters.

In our survey, 61% of voters rated the Conservatives as the best party to deal with the economy - close to three times the number - 22% - who thought Labour was.

Just 5% backed the Liberal Democrats, while only 1% of people thought Ukip were up to the job.

Perhaps the most striking finding of our poll is that concern over immigration has dropped significantly since 2015, when the issue was considered one of the most important for voters in Kent.

There has been a marked drop in the proportion of people who see immigration as ‘too high’ and a significant rise in those who see it as ‘about right.’

This is despite the considerable media coverage given to the migrant camp at Calais and more recently, the possibility that the new French president Emmanuel Macron will scrap the border control arrangements with the UK that permit checks to be made at Calais.

In 2015, our survey found that 24% considered immigration the most important factor in who they voted for. In 2017, that has fallen to 7%.

And when asked if the level of immigration was too high, 57% agreed - 16% down on 2015. In contrast, the number who felt it was about right was 39% - an increase of 14% over 2015.

One explanation for this may be that voters are reassured that having voted to leave the EU, the government will be able to adopt its own policy on immigration.

These numbers may explain why support for Ukip appears to be declining. In our survey in 2015, 31% thought the party was most trusted to manage immigration, ahead even of the Conservatives; this time just 7% do.

THE POLL

Facts International conducted interviews with 1,000 residents between May 15 and May 22.

Quotas were set and weighting applied to ensure a nationally representative sample in terms of gender, age, socio-economic group and constituency. Weighting was based on data from the ONS. A 10 minute interview was administered with closed and open questions.