As people gathered outside Emmanuel School on Monday night for the hustings, we were inside trying to get microphones to work. Despite one or two technical glitches early on, the message still came across loud and clear – people remain interested in what their politicians have to say.
Excitement builds (photo via Richard Olszewski)
The livestream of the event sadly failed (note to the school: Get a better Wifi connection!), but we do have a record of the whole evening, with just over a minute missing.
If you’re not hardcore enough for the whole thing, then here’s how the evening played out in bitesize pieces.
First up we had the three-minute party speeches.
Keith Moffitt for the Liberal Democrats focused on their record as councillors across the two wards
Ian Cohen for the Conservatives stressed their candidates’ expertise and focused heavily on the local issues
Philip Rosenberg for Labour talked about the party’s record in the Town Hall under the pressure of budget cuts
Juan Jimenez for the Green Party (apologies to the Greens, but this is where we lost a minute of the recording)
Dave Pearce for TUSC (Trade Union and Socialist Coalition) talked about cuts, jobs and housing security.
We then went on to discuss:
Rubbish – with issues of costs, enforcement and the contract with Veolia coming to the fore
Schools – specifically the different parties’ view on whether they support the proposed free school in the area.
Mansion tax – where much was made of the LibDems’ U-turn and there was an entertaining heckle!
Camden’s complaints procedure – would Sainsbury’s do a better job of managing the process?
Cycling & parking – is a wholesale review of parking restrictions needed?
Delivery lorries – everyone’s in agreement that Tesco lorries are a problem, what are the solutions?
Support for the Neighbourhood Development Plan – almost – almost – universal!
Getting the vote out – here’s where UKIP talk about removing the vote from some people
156 West End Lane – school? Community venue? What do the parties think?
Affordable housing – what does it mean?
And finally, how the candidates would fight our corner in the Town Hall (which led to one or two very odd replies).
If you want to watch everything in one go to get more of the atmosphere and hear what gets applauded and what doesn’t, then settle back with a cup of tea and a biscuit.
And a closing word:
The sincerity & dedication of the candidates stood stands out at the #whamp#hustings – local politics involves commitment!
