RESIDENTS keen to hear candidates speak about how they will represent Wokingham if elected in next week’s General Election, flocked to a hustings on Wednesday night at All Saints Church.
Doors opened at 7pm, and by 7.15pm the church was more or less full, with organisers bringing in extra chairs to accommodate the large number of Wokingham constituents who turned up.
Revd Canon Richard Lamey, organiser, said: “Around 360 people came, which is a superb outcome, and a great encouragement.”
At the start of the event, the absence of Liberal Democrat candidate Clive Jones was announced and the other three candidates were introduced.
Clive Jones, reported to be unwell, was represented by Cllr Pru Bray.
The audience expressed their disappointment that he wasn’t there, after which the chair, and General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, Lynn Green, said that while it was appropriate to clap for statements they agreed with, she would like the evening to proceed without any further booing.
Capably leading the proceedings, she introduced the evening’s format.
In order determined by lot, each of the candidates had an equal opportunity to give their opening statement, with a cut-off at the end of each allotted time to ensure nobody overran.
Conservative Party candidate Lucy Demery took the microphone first, followed by Labour’s Monica Hamidi, Colin Jameson Wright for Reform UK, and Cllr Pru Bray representing Clive Jones.
They then answered eight questions selected from those put forward by the audience at the start of the evening.
These were chosen to offer a representative picture of the range of questions received.
They covered topics including: what the candidates would work to achieve if they were elected, in the areas of education, social care, the NHS, the environment (particularly climate change), food banks, and housing.
The local environmental question of sewage also featured quite prominently.
Finally, in reverse order to their opening statements, the candidates were allowed two minutes to sum up their postition, after which Revd Canon Richard Lamey was thanked for proactively making the hustings happen.
He, in turn, thanks members of Churches Together Wokingham, whose help and support ensured the event was a success for the community.
For more information, email: church.office@spauls.co.uk
