Hustings organised jointly by Balerno, Currie and Juniper Green Community Councils
Echoes of 1880 when Gladstone spoke in Juniper Green Parish Church to 1,000 people were evoked on 28th April at the hustings organised jointly by Balerno, Currie and Juniper Green Community Councils. Gladstone’s audience was accommodated by removing all the furniture and allowing standing room only. 130 years later the church was packed again, and, with everyone seated this time, well over 400 local electors attended to listen to the Edinburgh South West candidates in the Parliamentary Election of 6th May.
In the chair, taking on the Dimbleby role and ensuring everyone got a fair hearing, was Cliff Beevers of Juniper Green CC. All the candidates standing in our constituency formed the panel. They were, in alphabetical order, Caroline Bellamy, Communist League; Clare Cooney, Green Party; Alistair Darling, Labour; Colin Fox, Scottish Socialist; Tim MacKay, Scottish Liberal Democrat; Jason Rust, Conservative; and Kaukab Stewart, SNP. They were allowed two and a half minutes each to introduce themselves, after which they received questions from the audience on Proportional Representation, Afghanistan, Pensions and the Elderly, Immigration, Environmental Concerns, Trident, and the Scottish Budget. All were then given one minute to sum up their political programme and beliefs.
Presentation and organisation were slick and professional, largely thanks to Martin Bone of Currie CC who had set up timers and projectors so that the audience could see how much time was ticking away for each speaker. Using a Big Ben chime to signal that the speaker’s time was up was amusingly apt.
The general impression at the end was that the audience had appreciated the chance to hear all the candidates and that in setting up the hustings the Community Councils had performed a valuable service for local people and for democracy. Most encouraging as an indicator of the underlying health of our politics, especially in view of what we hear of voter apathy, were the turnout and the audible buzz of enthusiasm as people left the church. Gladstone would have been proud of us.
Richard Watt