Election 2017: Labour say they have 'every chance of winning' Home Secretary Amber Rudd's seat

The Green Party has stepped down to support Labour's candidate, Peter Chowney

Amber Rudd filled in for Theresa May at the leaders' debate (Reuters)

Labour has claimed the party has “every chance of winning” the seat being contested by Home Secretary Amber Rudd, despite the prominent role she has played in the election campaign.

Ms Rudd is defending a majority of 4,796 in the Hastings and Rye constituency, but faces a difficult challenge after Labour’s seeming surge in the polls.

The seat has been held by Ms Rudd since 2010, but at this election the Green Party has stepped down to support Peter Chowney, the Labour council leader who is standing as the party's candidate for MP.

Mr Chowney told The Independent he had felt a “real change in the mood”.

He said: “As the tide turns in our favour both nationally and locally, and with the absence of any kind of Tory campaign, we've got every chance of winning."

Ms Rudd filled in for Theresa May at the leaders’ debate after the Prime Minister declined to participate in the event.

She has been touted as a future leader of the party but has now has the difficult challenge of fighting off Labour’s challenge in her constituency.

Robert Cooke, 38, a Conservative councillor and Hastings resident of 34 years, is relaxed about Ms Rudd’s chances.

“I don’t think the reaction on the doorstep has ever been this good,” he told The Times. “People feel we can really do something, with Brexit. And this is a working-class town where people are struggling to pay their rent and their mortgage. The ‘just about managing stuff’ works here”.