The Green Party has been named favourite to win in Brighton in the General Election by an independent poll.

The newly-published telephone research by pollsters ICM canvassed a representative sample of 533 people in the Brighton Pavilion constituency.

It found 35% planned to vote Green, followed by 27% for the Conservatives, 25% for Labour and 11% for Lib Dems.

Almost two-thirds, 63%, of the Labour and Lib Dem voters said they were likely to switch to voting Green if they thought the party was best placed to beat the Conservatives.

Green Party leader Caroline Lucas, who will stand in Brighton Pavilion, said: “Brighton is a special place and its voters are impatient for a fresh, independent voice to represent them in Westminster.”

The constituency is expected to be one of the closest contests in the General Election.

It is held by retiring Labour MP David Lepper by a 5,000 vote majority which his party’s candidate Nancy Platts will defend.

The Greens, Labour and Conservatives, who selected Charlotte Vere as their candidate in November, all believe they can win.