Labour can retain Canterbury comfortably at the general election in December and will not have to rely on students to do so, according to the constituency party chairman.

Ben Hickman also said that Rosie Duffield, the incumbent MP, was likely to be automatically reselected in view of the election timetable.

Ben Hickman spoke to Harry Peet from KMTV. Tune in tonight for the full package.

He downplayed the importance of the student vote, which was credited as a factor in the 2017 victory in Canterbury and saw a 20% swing to Labour. The constituency is among the most marginal in the country with a majority of just 187.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had expressed concern that students could be disenfranchised by an early December poll as they may have already left for the Christmas holiday. The end of term at The University of Kent is December 13 - the day after the election.

Mr Hickman said: “I don’t think that we will have any problems getting students out [to vote]. I think we can win in Canterbury comfortably. Students are important but when you have a majority that small, I think everyone is important. We can win without students...I think there are enough here to win Canterbury again.”

On the issue of the reselection of Rosie Duffield, he said the timescale for the adoption of a candidate meant that she was likely to be automatically reselected.

“We don’t know what the procedure for the selection will be now the election has been called...it may be that she is automatically re-selected but even if she is not, I am sure she is someone who relishes standing democratically to be the candidate.

“We will campaign on the policies we adopted at conference, such as abolishing private schools, NHS spending. Although the Tories may have a better candidate than they did, we will have a much more radical manifesto and although the Tories don’t have the Brazier factor, I am confident that we will increase our majority.”

Meanwhile, Rosie Duffield was among 54 Labour MPs who opposed a December poll by signing up to an amendment that would have changed the date of the early general election from December 12 to May 7 2020.

The proposal - which was not voted on - would have seen the election brought forward by only two years and only after another referendum in March of that year.

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