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Having gatecrashed the Republican presidential contest, Mike Huckabee last night outshone his seven rivals in a TV debate marked by bitter exchanges over immigration.

The former Arkansas governor has used a combination of compassionate conservatism and charm to surge forward from back of the field in recent weeks without having to face the same degree of scrutiny of other leading candidates.

The latest opinion polls suggest that he has edged ahead of Mitt Romney to take first place in Iowa, where the nominating process will begin on January 3.

Campaigning on a hard-edged platform of being an "authentic conservative" on social issues by opposing abortion and gay marriage, this ordained Baptist minister demonstrated his softer side in an early clash with Mr Romney who had branded him a "liberal" on immigration.

"We're a better country than to punish children for what their parents did – we’re a better country than that," said Mr Huckabee as he defended a plan to give students born to illegal immigrants access to college scholarship schemes.

Mr Romney also had a bitter personal exchange with Rudy Giuliani, the frontrunner in national opinion polls, on that same issue of immigration which is becoming a touchstone for Republicans in this election.

The former New York mayor accused him of turning his official residence as governor of Massachusetts into a "sanctuary mansion" for undocumented workers despite the "holier than thou attitude" Mr Romney has since adopted on the subject.

"You did have illegal immigrants working at your mansion, didn't you?" asked Mr Giuliani, who added: "They were under your nose."

Mr Romney retorted sharply, saying Mr Giuliani was being "offensive" and should "know better than that". He said that he was unaware of the status of workers employed by a sub-contractor and asked if every homeowner should take the "un-American" position of demanding official papers from people who look different or have a "funny accent".

But that was probably Mr Romney's best moment last night. He was booed briefly by the audience as he tried to explain his previous support for gays openly serving in the US military before once again admitting that he had been wrong to back abortion rights.

He later floundered under attack from John McCain who declared himself "astonished" over Mr Romney's refusal to say if he would allow the waterboarding technique in interrogating prisoners.

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