South Devon’s election candidates faced a barrage of questions from voters at a packed Brixham Theatre.

The ‘Question Time’-type hustings saw members of the public raise a host of issues, from nursing shortages and the rise in the number of food banks to wealth inequality and questions about candidates’ core values.

The former Conservative MP for Totnes and South Devon, Anthony Mangnall; Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrats); Daniel Steel from the Labour Party; Michael Bagley (Reform UK); and the Green Party’s Robert Bagnall took part, while Madeline Hunt stood in for candidate Becca Collings on behalf of the Heritage Party.

The crisis in the water industry in the wake of the cryptosporidium outbreak as well as the government’s 14-year record were at the centre of the debate, but climate change and immigration were also hotly disputed topics.

The event was briefly interrupted by a heckler and at the end by a Pro-Palestinian protester, who called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Mangnall cited new bus routes, his support for young job seekers and securing levelling up funding as some of the achievements during his time in office.

Ms Voaden meanwhile called for moves to bolster the NHS and restructure the water industry. She also cited her own experience and the care her late husband received as a cancer sufferer as reasons why the NHS should be saved.

She was the only candidate to mention the elephant in the room – Brexit, describing it as a “fantasy” that had failed to deliver.

Green Party candidate Robert Bagnall pledged to build 750,000 more social homes and to end the right-to-buy.

Steel reaffirmed his party’s commitment to create a publicly owned power company “paid for by windfall tax on oil and gas giants” and to add 13,000 more neighbourhood police officers.

At the end, the speakers were asked to champion one issue. Water quality was the biggest concern for Steel, echoing Mangnall’s call for South West Water’s boss to resign.

Ms Voaden spoke about the importance of mental health, particularly among young people. “If you can treat mental health problems early they don’t become embedded,” she said.

Mangnall said assisted dying should become a priority for government, adding that the introduction of a bill was “long overdue”.

Bagnall opted for universal basic income, saying it was “the nearest thing to a silver bullet”, while Bagley’s prime concern was Devon’s potholes, saying they should be fixed “whatever money it takes”.

Ms Hunt called for reforms in local administration.

Regardless of whether you agree with their policies or not, Mangnall and Voaden, the two candidates currently vying for victory on July 4, came across as the more polished and confident of the lot.

With caveats.

At one point during his speech, Mangnall brazenly brushed aside the chair’s warning that his time was almost up and ploughed on, regardless. Not to be outdone, Voaden did exactly the same thing when it was her turn to speak.

It was a telling moment and confirmed the view that the two fully understand the lay of the political land in South Devon. To prove the point, Mangnall chose to attack the Liberal Democrats from the get-go rather than Labour.

Voaden benefited from having a largely partisan crowd, eliciting the loudest cheers and applause. She laid into the government’s 14-year record, saying the Tories had “decimated” public services, and that they had an “obsession with protecting the status quo when it comes to executive pay and personal wealth”.

In response, Mangnall, who was distinctly nervous at the start of his opening speech, sought to distance himself from the government, focusing instead on his record as a local MP.

But he was laughed at when he claimed he had “helped pass the most stringent rules that are holding water companies to account”. It was a clear reminder that locals are still smarting from the cryptosporidium scandal and that many feel the Conservatives are largely responsible for causing the mess in the industry.

He got the same response over the ‘40 new hospitals’ claim, too.

But it was Bagley who dropped a toe-curling clanger when he suggested that Britain should expand fishing quotas and extend its maritime boundary 200 miles southwards (the distance between Poole and Cherbourg is just 84 miles).

It was a golden opportunity for Mangnall to take some of the heat off himself. “I thought I was going to be the most unpopular one on this panel!” he remarked.

And what of the Labour Party’s Daniel Steel? Although he has the credentials, having served as a civil servant at the Foreign Office and represented the UK abroad and at the UN, on the strength of this showing at least, he lacked gravitas.

His pledge to deliver economic stability “with tough spending rules”, keeping inflation, taxes and mortgages “as low as possible” was hardly inspiring stuff, but was in keeping with the party’s image of being a steady hand at the tiller.

Although minor players in South Devon, both Reform UK and the Heritage Party’s controversial views on immigration resonated with a small section of the crowd. It was that issue as well as opposition to net zero that appeared to divide opinion more than any other at this husting.

What was clear is that the three biggest parties will need to explain their policies on these issues with greater forcefulness if they are to win over sceptics.