It’ll be at 7pm at the Wesley Methodist Church next to Christ’s Pieces in Cambridge – and the main host is the Cambridge Branch of Friends of the Earth – which has been active for around half a century in our city.
I had it confirmed by email – see also Phil Rodgers below. I’m lined up to film it too
The debate is being chaired by Terry Macalister, the former Energy Correspondent at The Guardian – who chaired the XR hustings in Cambridge for the 2019 General Election. We are fortunate to have an experienced and knowledgeable chair.
Phil’s list of general election debates in and around Cambridge
See his list here which will be updated as more events are announced.
I note there’s nothing yet up for Ely and East Cambridgeshire Constituency. Please can people in that part of our county start prodding people to get something organised, or we’ll miss out on exchanges like this from 2017 when Labour’s candidate Huw Jones clashed with local Conservative activists about the banking crisis.
Note there are ***three*** large and FREE community events coming up over the next three weekends in Cambridge.
- Sat 01 June 2024 – The Strawberry Fair, Cambridge
- Sat 08 June 2024 – The Arbury Carnival
- Sat 14 June 2024 – Cambridge Pride
In previous years at each of these events, most if not all political parties have had stalls. I expect there will be a huge incentive for candidates at appear at most, if not all of these events, and for their parties to have a presence.
I have asked one of the organisers for the Strawberry Fair to arrange for some voter information leaflets to be available at the main entrance – if not a voter registration table and knowledgeable staff to run it. (Something for other event organisers to consider for June as well?)
Single themed multi-constituency hustings
At the moment I’m trying to see if these are possible for at least two themes – one on the growth of Cambridge, and another on arts. (For those of you who are members of the Cambridge Arts Network, please can you prod them?) Back in 2017 The Junction hosted an Arts hustings – which you can watch back here. I visited their box office today to see if they can host a similar event, but one that is open to the surrounding constituencies.
This is because while the ballot paper asks voters to indicate a preference of candidate, the issues are inevitably ones that cross constituency boundaries. The Junction doesn’t need me to tell them because they’ve got the postcode data from their members (of which I’m one because they need our support) and customers to provide evidence of this. (Also, any final takers for the Disco for Grown Ups?)
The concept of multi-constituency hustings provides for much more flexibility and potentially greater accessibility for the public. For example an event at The Junction’s J2 provides easier public transport access by bus and train. Furthermore, the venue’s address sits on a constituency boundary – the Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire parliamentary boundary. Given that two of our city’s wards – Queen Edith’s and Cherry Hinton are in the latter, there’s a reasonable case for the institution to host election debates that cover more than one constituency.
Multi-constituency hustings also provide flexibility for political parties. This is because rather than the candidate being the focus, it is the policies of the political party on a given theme that are the focus. Therefore each party can select any of their candidates standing in/around Cambridge to be their representative with the authority to speak on behalf of their political parties. Furthermore, it does not have to be a general election candidate – it can be someone like an executive councillor for the relevant policy portfolio, or the board/committee members past and present of say the Combined Authority or the Greater Cambridge Partnership.
My point is that this is an option – as are Democracy Mingles in the Park that I wrote about here. (I hope we have a couple on the Sunday afternoons before voting day). Again, it’s essential for event organisers to follow the guidance from the Electoral Commission so that all candidates standing in a constituency get a fair hearing and cross-examination.
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