The results of the televised debate revealed a clear preference for Nigel Farage, with 35 percent of viewers believing he delivered the best performance. Just 9 percent thought Angela Rayner gave the best performance, followed by Stephen Flynn (three percent), Daisy Cooper and Carla Denyer - both with two percent - and Rhun ap Iorwerth one percent. Five percent of voters in the poll said they didn't know who won.

"I only watched the highlights and if that is the calibre of candidates standing for election then heaven help us. It was like watching a group of school kids in the playground arguing."

"I mean the real leader of the Labour Party is here tonight on the stage, at least she's got some personality. "We've got Rishi slippery Sunak, he's fed all the lines to Penny Mordaunt, don't believe any of it. I think it isn't just our public services that are broken, I think our political model is broken. "The arguments that are going on here, the truth is they don't really disagree on anything, fictitious numbers like £2,000.

"To be fair it's always all about Nigel and we've had this type of clown personality before with Boris Johnson."

"Penny you can keep pointing at me but you're the party that has cut the armed forces, crashed the economy and left us in a real mess." Rayner and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy were among 48 Labour MPs who voted against the renewal of the Trident nuclear program in 2016.

"We have got to cut taxes and we have got to alleviate the burdens on business. Angela Rayner's party - Keir Starmer confirmed this earlier this week - they are going to put up your taxes by £2,000 per working household." Rayner furiously responded "that is a lie" and added that the Government had raised taxes to a "record level".