A CHURCH full of voters was left without election candidates to question, and a bishop was left with nothing to do, after a hustings was cancelled at the last minute on Tuesday evening.
The Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Revd Philip North, had been due to chair the hustings in St Thomas’s, Lancaster, but, after the Conservative candidate for Lancaster and Wyre pulled out, the Labour and Liberal Democrat hopefuls did likewise, leaving just the candidate for the Green Party, and the event was cancelled.
“The parties aren’t really prioritising in-person hustings,” Bishop North said on Tuesday evening. “What we’re seeing is the ‘TikTokification’ of politics; that social media and national push matters more than local candidates meeting local voters, and that’s a real loss, I think, to our public life.”
St Thomas’s had hosted events for previous elections, and provided a good forum for voters to meet the candidates, he said.
“Churches have a really important role to play, because we can organise hustings where there is respectful listening. We can set the right kind of environment, and encourage mature debate . . . It’s a great pity that that kind of thing just seems to be getting harder to organise.”
At St Mary’s, Gainford, in the Bishop Auckland constituency, the candidates came for a hustings on Monday evening. The Priest-in-Charge, Canon Eileen Harrop, said that the structure of the event, in which the six candidates were not permitted to interrupt each other, made for a “less noisy hustings”.
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland has published updated hustings guidance for churches on its website. It provides practical advice on the different formats that hustings can take.
In a webinar last week, the Baptist Union’s Public Issues Enabler, the Revd Steve Tinning, emphasised the importance of “curating an environment of mutual respect which honours those willing to stand as candidates, and all those willing to come out and engage”. One piece of advice shared at the webinar was to try to confirm the attendance of the expected winner, as this encouraged their rivals to engage.
It is a challenge being faced by the Interim Priest-in-Charge of Thornbury, Woodhall and Waterloo, the Revd Calum Burke, who has organised a hustings in Leeds West and Pudsey, where the Labour Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is standing for election.
Ms Reeves has yet to confirm her attendance, and, as a result, other candidates were wavering, he said. “I think it’s really sad for constituents who deserve the opportunity to ask questions. Many of the questions we’ve had sent in are not mentioned in manifesto, so it feels like a missed opportunity for the public.”
Despite the challenges involved, Bishop North encouraged churches considering hosting an event to “plough on”.
“We mustn’t give up. It’s very important that we model how we can listen to politicians and give them respect as those who wish to serve, and to provide the opportunities in which they can be directly accountable, face to face with those who they wish to represent,” he said.
Read more on the Election in Comment and Letters to the Editor