Cambridge hustings event set to be one of the best yet
Top local politicians on the same panel
The Cambridge Independent is teaming up with the city’s radio station Cambridge 105 for an election hustings event tomorrow night (Thursday) at the Portland Arms.
The venue is likely to be at full capacity for the event which will see respected politicians Labour’s Daniel Zeichner, Lib Dem Julian Huppert, Stuart Tuckwood of the Green Party and Tory candidate John Hayward plus journalist Terry Macalister discussing various topics put forward by the audience.
The event will follow the tried and trusted Question Time debating model and the panel will not know beforehand what questions will be asked by members of the audience.
The event will be hosted by Cambridge 105 presenter Julian Clover and will be broadcast at noon on Sunday (May 28) with a planned podcast to follow.
Mr Clover said: “The questions will come from the audience in a similar format to television’s Question Time.
“The panellists will not be aware what questions will be asked, but they are bright people and will probably have a reasonable guess of what they might be.”
He added: “It is the third hustings we have organised. Previously it has been our local councillors who have been on the programme and my fear is if we had it weekly or monthly we would get the same questions every time.
“I may bend the rules slightly by allowing a national question, particularly in the light of events in Manchester, hopefully we can rely on our panellists to give a Cambridge perspective.
“We want everyone in place between 7.30pm and 8pm. We want to start recording at 8pm. The running time of the programme will be about an hour.
“Unlike a regular hustings which can go on for as long as people continue to ask questions, we have a slight time constraint.
“We have probably got the best panel we’ve ever had for one of these things. Four candidates and a renowned journalist.
“We are at capacity at the moment but if someone drops out then somebody will be notified automatically to take their place. It should be a good night.”
The candidates will be back in action Tuesday, May 30, as Cambridge Network and the Institution of Civil Engineers stage a debate, giving more members of the public the chance to hear what they have to say and ask questions. Book at cambridgenetwork.co.uk.