KU students could help decide who comes to power at the General Election next year, according to Conservative leader David Cameron.

Speaking in the marginal Richmond Park constituency, which the Liberal Democrats currently hold with a small majority of 3,731, Mr Cameron made his pitch to become the next Prime Minister.

“You are some of the people who will determine the outcome of the general election,” Mr Cameron said at the start of the event, before taking questions from the audience.

Thousands of KU students who live in North Kingston, including the 565 students in Kingston Hill halls of residence, come under the Richmond Park constituency. The area starts north of Kingston station and extends out to the Thames on the west and Kingston Vale on the east.

The difference in votes between the Conservatives and the Lib Dems in the area is very tight, so students will be crucial in affecting the outcome.

In February’s European Elections, 28.5 per cent of the votes in Kingston Upon Thames went to the Conservatives, while the Lib Dems won 28 per cent. In Richmond, 33.3 per cent voted Conservative and 30.8 per cent Lib Dem. The Labour party won 7% in both.

When The River asked Mr Cameron about one of the main issues facing students - tuition fees - last Monday, he said: “They will have to stay. Taxpayers can’t take all the burden. Students will have to pay.”

The Lib Dems' flagship policy was to scrap university fees if elected but they have now shelved that pledge until the economy and public finances recover.

Speaking exclusively to The River, Ed Davey, the local Lib Dem MP for Kingston and Surbiton, said: "Saddling students with astronomical debts is not what we want to do."

"Our aim has always been to scrap tuition fees as an early priority. This may not be something that we can do within a year or two, but the aim and ambition hasn't changed."

He also said about Mr Cameron: “I don’t think young people want to see someone in Number 10 with such poor judgment on such important issues."

“What’s interesting about Mr Cameron’s position on many issues is that it’s permanently shifting.”

Mr Cameron, when asked what he hoped to achieve if he were elected into government, joked: “Not to screw up, I suppose”.

He then stressed that, although he wants to improve areas like education, the environment and the NHS, it would be “perilous” to have too many goals given the scale of the financial challenge.

The Conservatives need to win 117 extra seats at the General Election to gain an overall majority and avoid a hung parliament. This would be the biggest Conservative swing since 1931.

The latest ComRes poll figures show the Conservatives lead by 13 points with 40 per cent of the vote, which would be enough to give the Conservatives an overall majority in Parliament at the General Election next year. The Liberal Democrats’ share decreased one point to 18 per cent.