LIBERAL Democrat hopeful Paul Zukowskyj has finished top in an exit poll conducted by the Welwyn Hatfield Times following Monday’s election hustings at the University of Hertfordshire.

Following the debate at the The Forum at the College Lane Campus, the Welwyn Hatfield Times polled a section of the audience, asking them which candidate had most impressed them.

Mr Zukowskyj came first, polling around 41 per cent of the vote, ahead of Tory candidate Grant Shapps on 27 per cent and Labour’s Mike Hobday on 14 per cent.

Jill Weston, of the Green Party, finished fourth on nine per cent and independent Nigel Parker took five per cent.

A further five per cent of those polled were undecided, with UKIP candidate David Platt failing to attract any share of the vote.

Around one fifth of the audience took part in the poll.

It was an impassioned performance from Mr Zukowskyj, who drew loud applause during the discussions on both the proposed Hatfield incinerator and higher education.

Not surprising, perhaps, as Mr Zukowskyj is a lecturer at the uni.

But it was a different story in the WHT’s snap poll, conducted live online during the debate, which saw Mr Hobday take the plaudits with an emphatic 59 per cent of the overall vote.

That left Mr Zukowskyj in second place on 18 per cent and Mr Shapps in third on 14 per cent.