With just over one month to go until the Rochester and Strood by-election, the Conservatives and Ukip are picking up the pace of their campaigns.

Today saw a fifth visit from Nigel Farage and the arrival of Tory minister Iain Duncan Smith this evening.

Mr Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, arrived in Rochester by train late this afternoon to join Kelly Tolhurst and other Tories in their evening’s leafleting.

Mr Duncan Smith, who is the Conservative MP for Chingford and Woodford Green, said: “We’re putting our candidates to the public and saying, who do you want to stand for this party and we’re doing that, we are saying we’ll leave it to the people here to say what they want, they’ve got a choice now and they’ll come back and tell us who they want.

“It doesn’t matter if they are Conservatives or not, whoever in this Town and in this constituency, they make a decision about which of these two great people, Kelly and Anna, will be their candidate for the election.

“I think there’s nothing more democratic and nothing more serious in your commitment to a local area then you say two local people, your choice not mine, and then we’ll get behind them and campaign for them.”

Earlier in the day Nigel Farage had made his fifth trip to the Towns in two weeks, targeting today’s visit on the issue of regaining city status for Rochester.

Ukip Campaign Manager, Chris Bruni-Lowe said: “Busing people in is fine, but you need a lot of local people to win this campaign.

“But the more the merrier, it’s a lovely place and the more ministers who visit then the better, hopefully they’ll come back once the election is over.”

Mr Bruni-Lowe also led Douglas Cardswell campaign in Clacton last month which led to him become Ukip’s first MP.