THE battle for Kent's 17 parliamentary constituencies continued in earnest as week two of the general election campaign got underway.

Visits to the county’s most marginal seat of Thanet South by Conservative shadow minister James Arbuthnot, together with a second in as many weeks by Labour deputy prime minister John Prescott, provided further evidence that both regard the county as central to their fortunes on May 5.

The Conservatives formally launched the South East manifesto they hope see them win back the eight Kent seats the party lost to Labour in 1997.

Shadow trade and industry secretary James Arbuthnot travelled to the seaside town of Broadstairs, in the county’s top Tory target seat, to rally support for the party saying he "profoundly distrusted" the opinion polls that suggested Labour was on course for a third successive victory.

And in a possible sign of Labour’s own anxieties over the fortunes of their marginal MPs, Labour sent in the deputy Prime Minister John Prescott for his second visit to Kent. Mr Prescott, who was in Folkestone and Hythe on the day the election was announced, toured both Thanet and Dartford to drum up support.

Mr Arbuthnot said the Conservatives could still form the next government despite opinion polls suggesting that while they might make gains, outright victory was unlikely.

"I have not believed the polls for many years. In the last two elections, they were completely wrong and over-stated Labour support quite dramatically but nobody really noticed it," he said.

The Conservative manifesto for the South East echoed pledges made in the party’s national manifesto, emphasising cleaner hospitals, controlled immigration and school discipline.

Mr Arbuthnot defended the party’s stance over immigration, a key issue in the county.

He said: "Mr Blair’s been in charge of our immigration system for eight years and it has been eight years of chaos. Surely it is not hard for an island nation to control its borders. People are longing for immigration to be controlled and limited and a fair system that stops the abuse of our country’s generousity."