SCORES of residents turned out to quiz the East Hampshire parliamentary candidates standing in the general election at a question and answer session in Petersfield on Tuesday evening.
Held in St Peter’s Church in The Square and chaired by Reverend Will Hughes, the two hour hustings event was attended by around 140 people.
All five candidates were there - Damian Hinds, Conservative; Richard Robinson, Liberal Democrat; Rohit Dasgupta, Labour; Richard Knight, Green Party; and Susan Jerrard, Justice and Anti-Corruption Party.
It started with a minutes’ silence for those who died and were injured in the Manchester terror attack on May 22, and a prayer for them and the work of the security services.
Then each candidate had five minutes to put forward their party election manifesto and outline what they personally stood for before the questions from the audience began.
The questions covered education, university tuition fees, housing, social care, the NHS, proportional representation, and various forms of taxation, including council tax.
The candidates were also asked about green and environmental issues, and how they would fund the policies they were promoting.
At the end of the evening they were thanked by the Rev Hughes, and applauded by the audience.
Green Party member Liz Bisset, from Petersfield, agreed: “It was definitely worth doing, and I think it has given those who haven’t yet decided how they will vote something to think about.”