It’s Hustings Time Again in Guildford

Published on: 12 Jun, 2024
Updated on: 14 Jun, 2024

Amelia Hadfield, Professor of Politics at the University of Surrey, welcomes the audience to its General Election Hustings in 2019.

“Hustings are a great way to get engaged with the political process” – so say the University of Surrey’s head of the department of Politics, Dr Amelia Hadfield, and Noshi Ali Shaikh, the president of the Politics Society.

They will be jointly chairing a Guildford Constituency Hustings on June 26, ahead of the General Election on July 4.

Noshi said: “Come and familiarise yourself with the prospective parliamentary candidates and their policies, before deciding who to vote for. Attendees also get an opportunity to submit questions for the individual candidates, or the entire panel, to better understand where each candidate stands on certain important issues.

“Hustings are an important part of the democratic process; they open avenues for voters to engage with the candidates and parties they will be voting for directly as an opportunity to make informed decisions. Hustings also promote transparency and accountability, as well as ensuring that the candidates discuss both local and national issues.”

The event is registration-only for all attendees. So, bag your place now via this Free Registration link. The online form guarantees your seat but also provides an opportunity to submit three questions for any or all of the candidates.

At the hustings, Guildford residents, university staff and students will hear from the candidates hoping to be Guildford’s MP and participate in a question and answer session.

The event will include all six of Guildford’s Parliamentary Candidates: Zoe Franklin (Liberal Democrats), Sarah Gillinson (Labour Party), Angela Richardson (Conservative and Unionist Party), Sam Peters (Green Party), Dennis Saunders (Reform UK) and John Morris (Peace Party).

The venue will be in the Surrey Business School (Rik Medlik building), on the UoS Stag Hill Campus, running from 5.30 to 7.30 pm, with a pre-event reception from 5.30 to 6, allowing attendees to interact with the candidates.

The event itself will run from 6-7pm, including policy introductions from the candidates, a question-and-answer period. This will include questions posted before the event, and those asked live during the event itself.

It will be an exclusively in-person event: there will be no livestreaming.

At the end there will be additional time from 7 to 7.30 pm for further engagement with the candidates.

Attendance will be monitored at the door to ensure capacity is not exceeded, so the organisers are saying: “Please sign up now! Don’t forget to share the event using the hashtag #SurreyHustings. We look forward to seeing you there.”

If you are organising a hustings event in Guildford, or in neighbouring constituencies, and wish to advertise please send your meeting notice to: guildford-dragon@gmail.com