The race for the keys to 10 Downing Street is entering the final phase with polls suggesting the gap between Labour and the Conservatives continues to narrow.

It follows last night's televised debate featuring Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, which many saw as a score draw with neither candidate emerging as a clear winner.

Both had moments when they were put on the defensive, with Mrs May pressed on cuts to key public services and jeered by the audience when defending the reforms of school funding.

Mr Corbyn looked less assured when quizzed about his terror connections but dealt reasonably deftly with most of what Jeremy Paxman had to throw at him.

However, after surviving a grilling in front of the cameras, he had trouble remembering some key figures on the party’s child care commitments during an interview today on Woman’s Hour on Radio 4.

Here are the thoughts of two of Kent’s would be MPs on what’s in store for the final eight days...

Conservative Ashford candidate Damian Green, who is acting as one of Mrs May’s cheerleaders in the campaign, said he was not perturbed by the polls.

“When you saw polls at the start of the campaign giving us a 20% lead, no one really believes that," he said.

"I think we are going back to what the election was all about - Brexit and the choice voters face.

"This is really a two-party election and you can feel people are beginning to focus on the choice between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn and on who is best for Brexit.

“We really are at a big point in the campaign now and it is very much a stark choice.”

The race would come down to who the electorate believed was the best candidate to negotiate a Brexit.

Vince Maple, the Labour candidate in Chatham and Aylesford, said: “What is really interesting is to see on the doorstep, very few people are talking about Brexit. Yes, there are some - you’d expect that - but it is more about the health service and schools.

“Immigration is still a talking point but not in the same way that it was back in 2010 and 2015.”

He was cautious about whether Labour could recover enough ground in the remaining nine days to give the party a realistic chance of seats in Kent.

“I know it’s a cliche but there’s only one poll that counts and that is on June 8," he added.

For details on all the Kent and Medway candidates, go to www.kentonline.co.uk/election.