THE Green Party came top in a poll by voters at a hustings.

At the event on Wednesday at the University of Sussex, five parliamentary candidates faced questions from the audience and battled for their support ahead of the General Election.

In a live poll at the start of the evening, Kemp Town’s Labour candidate Lloyd Russell-Moyle was the favourite and had 43 per cent of the vote, with Brighton Pavilion’s Green Party candidate Caroline Lucas coming second on 32 per cent.

But by the end of the hustings the results were reversed, with Ms Lucas gaining 51 per cent of the vote and Labour dropping down to 30 per cent.

Deputy vice chancellor of the university Saul Becker asked candidates to list their policies, aside from Brexit.

Richard Milton, standing for the Brexit Party in Kemptown, accused Westminster politicians of being out of touch with voters.

He said: “In the fifth largest economy in the world we should not have problems of homelessness and food banks.

“I would like to see things re-prioritised so people have food to eat and a roof over their head.”

Mr Russell-Moyle was quick to criticise Mr Milton, and said: “When Richard said ‘re-prioritise’ I thought he might have got muddled with ‘re-privatise’, as that’s what their policies are for the NHS.”

Beatrice Bass, representing the Liberal Democrats in Hove, said her party is determined to tackle climate change, and would spend £5 billion on flood defences.

Conservative Party candidate for Kemptown, Joe Miller, promised more money for schools and a commitment to helping people “from the bottom up”, to which Mr Russell-Moyle responded: “Joe read out a laudable list, but voting Conservative would be like thanking the person who has stolen your wallet.”

The Green Party’s Caroline Lucas drew applause when she described her party’s plans for education.

She said: “We need to respect our teachers, stop over-testing, and have a different kind of system that doesn’t always assume teachers don’t know what they’re doing.”