THE ongoing battle to become Britain’s next prime minister was played out in Bournemouth yesterday evening as the town hosted the Conservative party’s third leadership hustings.

Rivals Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt fielded questions from local party members during the event at the Pavilion. Unsurprisingly, questions about Brexit were most recurrent, but both would-be leaders were also quizzed on their policies towards health, education, transport, housing, and other areas.

Boris Johnson refuses to rule out suspending parliament to deliver Brexit

Frontrunner Mr Johnson was the first to face questions, and he was pressed on comments he made on Wednesday about suspending parliament to push through a no-deal Brexit without MPs’ consent.

While Mr Johnson said he did not “envisage the circumstances in which it will be necessary to prorogue parliament”, and nor was he “attracted to that expedient”, he refused to rule it out – likewise he refuses to rule out a no-deal Brexit.

Mr Johnson repeated his earlier statement that the chances of a no-deal Brexit are a “million to one”, but stressed there would be “democratic retribution” on the Conservative and Labour parties if Brexit was not delivered.

He said it was “time for a slight change in our approach with Brussels” and a “little bit more resolve” was called for in negotiations with the EU – comments that were met with rapturous applause from the audience.

Jeremy Hunt: 'I'll always keep no-deal Brexit on the table'

Mr Hunt aimed to appeal to business owners in the audience when explaining his Brexit strategy, saying he was prepared to “walk away” from talks with the EU if he was unable to negotiate an acceptable deal.

He said a no-deal Brexit would be a “last choice” but he would “always keep it on the table”.

Responding to questions from the audience, Mr Johnson said home ownership and the adult social care crisis were among the biggest challenges facing the country.

'Fantastic infrastructure key to housing development'

In his comments regarding the housing situation, Mr Johnson said concerns over development on green belt land had led to “wonderful councillors” losing their seats in Dorset at the recent local elections.

He said there were brownfield sites on which to build homes, but the key to development was “fantastic transport infrastructure”.

Meanwhile, Mr Hunt outlined his ‘right to own’ scheme at the hustings, which he claims would help 1.5m young people who can’t afford a mortgage or a deposit onto the housing ladder.

He said his policy was as ambitious as Margaret Thatcher’s right to buy scheme for council housing tenants.

Pledge to increase education spending by £5bn

Mr Johnson was critical of another of Hunt’s new pledges to write off student debts for young entrepreneurs.

“I think people, a lot of people, would automatically be defining themselves as entrepreneurs,” he said, prompting laughter from the audience.

He said the focus should be on reducing interest rates on student loans and the cost of maintenance, which are both “very, very high”.

Answering a wider question about education funding, he committed to increasing school spending by around £5bn.

Explaining his student debt policy in more detail, Mr Hunt said graduates who set up their own business and employed 10 people or more for five years would have their tuition fee loan re-payments cancelled.

He said abolishing illiteracy in school leavers would be one of his first priorities if he became prime minister.

Challenges facing NHS and social care

Both leadership hopefuls were asked how they would address the social care crisis and challenges facing the NHS as prime minister.

Mr Johnson said a “cross-party consensus” and a “two-principle approach” was needed to tackle the issues facing adult social care.

He stressed that no one should be at risk of losing their home, and that everyone should be treated with dignity in old age.

Meanwhile, former health secretary Mr Hunt was asked if the NHS should “continue to do everything for everybody regardless of personal responsibility”.

He said the NHS “can’t do everything but it can do a lot” and it was important for people to take responsibility for their own health.

He added in a decade’s time he wanted Britain to have the best cancer survival rates in Europe.

Cuts to police officer numbers

Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner candidate for Dorset, David Sidwick, asked Mr Hunt if he would give more core funding to police forces to tackle both serious crime and anti-social behaviour.

Mr Hunt admitted government spending cuts went "too far" in the area of police officer numbers.

He said he would commit to a "specific spending pledge" if he became prime minister.