By political editor Paul Francis

Foreign secretary David Miliband has insisted that Labour remains in with a fighting chance of retaining its seats in Kent despite trailing behind both the Conservatives and the Lib Dems in a string of polls.

Mr Miliband told the KMG that voters in Kent were faced with a choice of positive change with Labour or what he described as a "leap into the unknown" with the Conservatives.

He rejected the suggestion that with a week to go, Labour was out of the race. Instant polls following the final leaders' debate last night again put Mr Brown behind David Cameron and Nick Clegg.

"Any politician would like to be first in the polls rather than third and anyone who tells you they pay no attention to them needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. But my impression is that more people are undecided than ever before and it is definitely still a three-horse race. We are going in to this last week respecting the fact that people have a very big choice to make."

He also said that the leaders' debates had been good for democracy and that Labour had no regrets about giving the Lib Dems equal status.

"I always thought that when the debates started we would be behind on style but ahead on substance and I think we've made progress on exposing the differences between us and the other two parties. The debates have been very good for politics."

As candidates gear up for a final push for votes, Mr Miliband refused to write off Labour's prospects across the county.

"We are fighting every day to win and we know they are tight contests but we have outstanding candidates and they are fighting very good campaigns."