School places, crime and transport will be the hot topics when Walkden hosts a political hustings this Saturday for the 2015 General Election.
Organised by volunteers for the Walkden Community Facebook group, the event at the Ellesmere Shopping Centre is free and open to all.
From 11am on Saturday 18 April Parliamentary candidates for the Worsley and Eccles South seat will answer questions in front of a live audience.
On the bill are (in alphabetical order) are Geoffrey Berg (Independent); Christopher Bertenshaw (Green Party); Owen Hammond (UKIP); Iain Lindley (Conservatives); and Steven North (TUSC). Only the Liberal Democrat candidate Kate Clarkson is not able to attend.
Each will make an opening address before being asked two questions from 30 supplied to the candidates in advance.
There will not be a formal question and answer session after the hustings, but the audience can go and ask their own questions to each candidate individually, as they will stay around on their own stands until 2pm.
Chairing the debate is 41-year-old pensions adviser Jonathan McCaffrey, who volunteers for Walkden Community along with his actress wife Sarah.
He told SalfordOnline.com: “First of all, we hope it inspires people to register. On the day, we’ll have people from the Electoral Commission who could help with that.
“The political system in this country is changing; the 2010 election proved that it’s not just a two-party system.”
Jonathan also spoke about the increasing numbers who want more power locally: “I think Salford has had a raw deal in recent years – that is something which needs to change.
“Local people have come up with some interesting issues that they want to be discussed.
“They want politicians to be accountable and want to trust them.”
Sarah explained: “The idea from the hustings came through the very positive response we had to a debate last year for the local elections between Iain Lindley and Steven North; it’s important that we have a good turnout for local democracy so we thought we would include the Prospective Parliamentary Candidates this time.
She added: “The turnout for Worsley and Eccles South in 2010 was 57.5% – if we get that up to 60% we’ll take all the credit, obviously!”
When the hustings are completed, each candidate will be asked to answer all 30 of the submitted questions, which will then be published through the Walkden Community Facebook group.
The official count for Worsley and Eccles South takes place on 7 May from 10pm at the AJ Bell Stadium in Salford.
Anyone who wants to watch the hustings should turn up at Victoria Square, by Walkden Post Office, from 11am on Saturday 18 April.
