It’s ever so important to provide as many constituencies with a video recording of at least one public hustings in the run up to the general election
So I went to the Great Shelford Parish Council-organised hustings for South Cambridgeshire Constituency to do just that. (See the candidates’ details here). I should also thank Miranda Fyfe of the Cambridge & South Cambridgeshire Green Party for organising transport there and back – which makes things so much easier when carrying equipment.
Above – opening speeches by the candidates
I will be uploading additional videos from the Great Shelford hustings to the playlist here
Spoiler: I took the dragon with me.
As in the olden days before Puffles officially retired back in 2020, the dragon made for an interesting and light-hearted conversation piece in a sometimes tense atmosphere in a highly-contested seat – especially when some of the audience and candidates noted: “Oh – you’ve brought Puffles with you!” (Don’t worry – the dragon is not making a comeback!)
More videos of more local hustings and general election debates in/around Cambridge
In case you missed them, I also filmed, edited, and created playlists of:
- Cambridge Friends of the Earth hustings (11 June 2024) – City of Cambridge Constituency
- Friends of the River Cam / Federation of Cambridge Residents’ Association hustings (19 June 2024) – City of Cambridge Constituency
- Great Shelford Parish Council hustings (21 June 2024) – South Cambridgeshire Constituency
I am due to film the Queen Edith’s hustings for South Cambridgeshire Constituency – details here, and also on Phil Rodgers’ listings here.
You may also be interested in the video of The Love’s Farm Community Association Hustings for St Neots and Mid Cambs Constituency – by the LFCA (not filmed or produced by me). Note the Girton Hustings on Phil’s list, and the Ely Cathedral Hustings hosted by the Former Cabinet Secretary Lord Wilson (Sir Richard Wilson, who oversaw the transition of power from John Major to Tony Blair) will be filmed by their organisers, if not live streamed as well.
‘Capital depreciation’
It turns out the laptop I’ve been doing much of the video editing on for the past decade or so is on its last legs – not helped by the manufacturers making things obsolete/unrepairable or un-upgradeable within a relatively short lifespan. Ditto with software upgrades and operating systems. Hence I try to keep track of what the EU is legislating on in the face of campaigns from civic society organisations such as Right To Repair EU. In one sense I’m astonished this one has lasted so long. My first laptop 20 years or so ago lasted about four years before really showing its age.
So at some stage I may launch a crowdfunder to help buy a professionally refurbished second-hand replacement – which is what my current one is. (Built in mid-2012, I bought it refurbished second hand a few years later. It’s done well!) Inevitably a replacement costs just over a grand – which is half the price of a brand new one and also re-uses existing resources rather. However, it’s still very expensive if you have a chronic illness that prevents you working full time (to the extent you’re on UC) and have to live with your parents. But as Newsnight showed earlier on, the latter is sadly becoming the norm for too many young and not-so-young adults.
In the meantime, if you find the video footage useful/interesting *and* (only) if you can afford it in this continued cost of living crisis, please feel free to support me with a one-off contribution.
The Cambridge Town Owl 