Question Time audience member who rattled May with first question is member of Ukip youth

Abigail Eatock cannot vote Ukip as no candidate is standing in her seat, but she does not plan to vote Conservative either

When Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn appeared on the BBC‘s ‘Question Time’, one woman in the audience received almost as much attention as the politicians – a Ukip member.

Abigail Eatock, chair of Young Independence, Ukip’s youth wing at the University of York, posed the first question to Ms May.

She asked: “Why should the public trust anything you say or any of your policies when you have a known track record of broken promises and back tracking during your time as home secretary and now as Prime Minister?”

“You said you wouldn’t call an election and you did. You are refusing to take part in debates, refusing to answer people’s questions, refusing to talk to Jeremy Corbyn.

“And you’ve backtracked on your social care policy. Your entire manifesto has holes in it, and everyone else can see that.”

Ms Eatock, a politics and international relations student, was applauded in studio and widely praised on social media.

Ms May, meanwhile, was criticised for her response to the very direct line of questioning.

She began with a welcome to the audience and details of her record as Home Secretary, before denying she had refused to take part in debates.

After the debate, Ms Eatock told the Huffington Post she was disappointed by Ms May’s answer, calling it “rehearsed”.

She also added that neither the Prime Minister nor Jeremy Corbyn had managed to convince her, but that she cannot vote for Ukip either.

“I’m a Ukip member but I don’t have a Ukip candidate in my area, so I’m going to spoil my ballot," she said.