What it was like inside the Lancashire election hustings – my first ever taste of a local elections debate

My view from the front row of the Lancashire election hustings Pic: Blog Preston

Heated debates, splits of opinion and attempts to introduce mis-truths were all part of my Wednesday evening this week.

Organised by Blog Preston, alongside the Lancashire Post and Lancashire Lead, Wednesday night was my first ever local elections meeting.

The debate was chaired by Paul Falkner, a BBC local democracy reporter who you will regularly read on Blog Preston and other publications covering all things local politics, at the Tickled Trout Hotel on the edge of Preston.

The panel, saw five local politicians from Greens, Conservatives, Lib Dems, Labour and Reform have their say before election day on 1 May.

Live streamed by both Blog Preston and Lancashire Evening Post, the public was digitally invited via a live stream on social media, alongside nearly 100 members of the public who attended in real life.

The first ten minutes of the event consisted of an intense 60-second introduction from each candidate, with Reform candidate, Steven Atkinson saying the values, such as the freedom of speech, that “transformed the county are now “under attack.”

Paul started the debate off with a topic that some of the public has made clear is a big issue in our community – potholes.

Green Party candidate, Gina Dowding described the issue as symbolic and something visual which she says, “reflects on us as a society.”

Paul Faulkner – who chaired the debate – deep in listening mode as the candidates make their points Pic: Blog Preston

One moment that resonated with me was the comment from Labour leader Matthew Tomlinson.

When talking about the children’s SEND (Special educational needs and disability) programme at the county council which had recently received a damning Ofsted report, he said that some parents are waiting “four times the legal limit to get an educational health and care plan” which he said was “unacceptable.”

He added: “We are spending money on home-to-school transport to give these poor families and children a poor service,” before outlining Labour’s plan to get the waiting list times down to 90 per cent.

As the heat rose, Reform Lancashire leader Steven Atkinson clashed with Scott Smith from the current Conservatives administration over his comment implying a resignation from a senior county council staff member due to the state of finances and investment debt. The Reform leader was criticised by all candidates for bringing a staff member at County Hall into the political debate.

Cllr Smith moved to draw a line under the way Reform were presenting the information saying: “The council staff member in question had a temporary contract which ended.”

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat John Potter added to the debate a number of times over Reform slogans: “Please don’t believe in simple solutions to complex problems.”

It was safe to say my Wednesday evening was well spent with conflicting opinions and alternating truths, voices from both the audience and the panel, it was an exciting experience.

You can watch the full livestream by visiting the Blog Preston Facebook page to see it.

And there’s lots of coverage of the local elections with candidate lists and the big topics from the hustings broken down in our dedicated local elections section.

Remember to vote on polling day on 1 May and you can see a full list of candidates standing in Preston and South Ribble, and then also across all of Lancashire.

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