We asked some voters attending the Ardrossan hustings what they thought of the candiate's performances.

Angela Gallagher, 61, from Beith arrived knowing which way she is going to vote and the hustings didn't sway her.

She said: “It was interesting to hear the other points of view but to be honest it's just confirmed what I already thought.

“There were no surprises. I think they all just follow the party lines.

“I would have loved to have heard more answers to specifics – it was too generalised.

“If you go by the applause I would say Patricia Gibson won with a close follow-up by Katy Clark.” Her husband Jim, 63, also has a fixed idea about his voting intentions: “You can't swing me.

“Twenty-eight years ago I was delivering leaflets for Brian Wilson.

"But I've found them out, and it's a pity a lot of people here haven't found them out yet. Labour can't do anything.

“There were no winners for me. It's not that type of thing – there were no knock-outs. It's pre-prepared speeches. There were no surprises.” At the younger end of the electorate spectrum Hazel Nolan, 27, originally from Cork but registered to vote in May, was pleased to hear conversations started during the referendum being continued.

“People are really engaged which is a really positive thing.

“I was a bit surprised by the Labour candidate who was not what I thought a traditional Labour candidate is like.

“I identified with her a lot more than I thought I was going to – she was more radical than I expected, although it shouldn't be thought radical to want to invest in communities.

“It made me change my mind a bit and re-evaluate how I was going to vote.

“In terms of who changed by opinion I would say Katy Clark was the winner.”